Vehicle tracker including override feature and related methods

ABSTRACT

A vehicle tracking system for a vehicle of a type including at least one vehicle sensor may include a vehicle tracking unit including a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller connected to the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device. Furthermore, the controller may cooperate with the vehicle position determining device and the wireless communications device to send an alert message based upon the at least one vehicle sensor. The controller may also be switchable to an override mode to prevent sending of the alert message based upon receiving an alert override message. The vehicle tracking system may further include a monitoring station for receiving the alert message and for sending the alert override message.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/859,727 filed May 17, 2001, which, in turn, isbased upon copending provisional application serial Nos. 60/264,811filed on Jan. 29, 2001; 60/258,005, filed Dec. 22, 2000; 60/251,552,filed Dec. 6, 2000; 60/252,125, filed Nov. 20, 2000; 60/236,890, filedSep. 29, 2000; 60/246,463, filed Nov. 7, 2000; 60/222,777, filed Aug. 3,2000; and 60/205,178, filed May 17, 2000, the entire contents of each ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of vehicle devices,and, more particularly, to a tracking and alerting system for a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, busses, fleetvehicles, etc. are widely used and knowing the locations of suchvehicles is often desired. For example, should a vehicle be stolen, itwould be beneficial to know the vehicle's location so that authoritiescould be promptly and accurately directed to retrieve the vehicle.Indeed, the tracking system could plot the getaway path of the thief.

[0004] For a company with hired drivers, it may desirable to know thedriver's whereabouts during the course of the day. Similarly, a rentalcar agency or other fleet operator, for example, may wish to know thewhereabouts of its fleet of vehicles.

[0005] It may also be desirable to track the location of a vehicle as itis used throughout the course of a normal day. For parents of younger orolder drivers, for example, knowledge of the vehicle's location mayprovide some assurance that the driver is at designated locations andfollowing a prescribed route.

[0006] A number of patents disclose various systems and approaches totracking vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844 discloses atracking system including a control center and a mobile unit installedin the vehicle. The mobile unit may send security warnings to thecommand center via a wireless transceiver. Position information for thevehicle is determined using a GPS receiver at the vehicle.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,043 discloses a similar system which may sendone or more preprogrammed telephone messages to a user when away fromthe vehicle. The user may remotely access location information or causecertain commands to be carried out by entering a personal identificationnumber (PIN).

[0008] The widespread availability and use of the Internet has prompteda number of vehicle tracking systems to also make use of the Internet.For example, TelEvoke, Inc. proposed such a system in combination withClifford Electronics. The system was to provide notification, controland tracking services via the telephone or the Internet. Users could benotified via phone, e-mail, or pager of events such as a car alarm beingtriggered. Users could control the vehicle remote devices via phone,web, or PDA such as unlocking car doors. Additionally, users could trackTelEvoke-enabled vehicles on the Internet or via the telephone. AnInternet map could be viewed by the user showing the actual and priorvehicle locations. TelEvoke offered its services via a centralized fullyautomated Network Operations Center. To reduce the communications costs,it was proposed to use the control channel of the cellular telephonenetwork.

[0009] Many conventional vehicle tracking units include many input andoutput connections. Accordingly, such units may be difficult to installin a vehicle. This is especially so since the space available to accessand connect to vehicle wires is likely to be restricted. Accordingly,errors in the initial installation may occur. Accurate diagnosis of anysuch errors may be time consuming and add further to the installationcosts. Maintenance of an installed system may also be complicated ifeach connection must be individually checked and rechecked.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object ofthe present invention to provide a vehicle tracking system which mayselectively provide alarm alerts and related methods.

[0011] This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordancewith the present invention are provided by a vehicle tracking system fora vehicle of a type including at least one vehicle sensor. The vehicletracking system may include a vehicle tracking unit including a vehicleposition determining device, a wireless communications device, and acontroller connected to the wireless communications device and thevehicle position determining device. Furthermore, the controller maycooperate with the vehicle position determining device and the wirelesscommunications device to send an alert message based upon the at leastone vehicle sensor. The controller may also be switchable to an overridemode to prevent sending of the alert message based upon receiving analert override message. The vehicle tracking system may further includea monitoring station for receiving the alert message and for sending thealert override message.

[0012] More particularly, the controller may be switchable between armedand disarmed modes based upon the at least one vehicle sensor, and thealert message may be sent when the controller is in the armed mode.Further, the controller may send the alert message based upon thevehicle changing location. Thus, for example, if the vehicle was brokendown on the side of the road and the user had to leave the vehicle untila tow truck arrived, the user could advantageously place the controllerin the armed mode so he will be alerted if the vehicle is moved beforethe tow truck arrives. Yet, the user may also cause the controller to beswitched to the override mode upon the tow truck picking up the car sothat he will no longer receive the alert indication, resulting in asavings in wireless communications costs. In some embodiments the alertmessage may also be sent when the controller is in the disarmed mode.

[0013] In addition, the vehicle tracking unit may further include ahousing, and the vehicle position determining device, the wirelesscommunications device, and the controller may be carried by the housing.By way of example, the at least one vehicle sensor may include a vehicleignition switch, and the controller may disengage the override modebased upon the vehicle ignition switch being switched between on and offpositions. Also, the at least one vehicle sensor may include an operablevehicle device which may be controllable by a transmitter to be carriedby a user, and the controller may disengage the override mode based uponthe operable vehicle device being controlled by the transmitter.Further, the override mode may be disengaged based upon an overridedisengage message sent by the monitoring station. The operable vehicledevice may include at least one of a vehicle alarm device, a keylessentry device, an engine starter interrupt device, and a remote starterdevice, for example.

[0014] The controller may also cooperate with the vehicle positiondetermining device and the wireless communications device to sendvehicle position information to the monitoring station. By way ofexample, the vehicle position determining device may be a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) device, and the wireless communications devicemay be a cellular telephone communications device. Further, the cellulartelephone communications device may communicate over a cellular controlchannel, for example.

[0015] Additionally, the monitoring station may include a user interfacefor accepting at least one command from a user and sending at least onealert to the user. The user interface may be at least one of an Internetinterface or a telephone network interface, for example.

[0016] A vehicle tracking method aspect of the invention is for avehicle of a type including at least one vehicle sensor and a vehicletracking unit, such as the one described briefly above. The method mayinclude selectively sending an alert override message from themonitoring station to the vehicle tracking unit, and switching thevehicle tracking unit to an override mode based upon receiving the alertoverride message from the monitoring station. Furthermore, an alertmessage may be sent from the vehicle tracking unit to the monitoringstation based upon the at least one vehicle sensor if the vehicletracking unit is not in the override mode, and the alert message may beprevented from being sent if the vehicle is in the override mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a vehicle tracking systemin accordance with the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the vehicle trackingunit as shown in FIG. 1.

[0019]FIG. 3 is more detailed block diagram of the monitoring station asshown in FIG. 1.

[0020]FIG. 4 is a flowchart for operation of the vehicle tracking systemas shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a vehicle stolen alert.

[0021] FIGS. 5A-5C are a flowchart for operation of the vehicle trackingsystem as shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a vehicle alarm sounding alert.

[0022]FIG. 6 is a flowchart for operation of the vehicle tracking systemas shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a vehicle speeding alert.

[0023]FIG. 7 is a flowchart for operation of the vehicle tracking systemas shown in FIG. 1 illustrating an unauthorized transmitter learnedalert.

[0024]FIG. 8 is a flowchart for operation of the vehicle tracking systemas shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a low battery alert.

[0025]FIG. 9 is a flowchart for operation of the vehicle tracking systemas shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a GPS or cellular unit failure alert.

[0026]FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating operation of the vehicletracking unit as shown in FIG. 1 for direction deviation tracking.

[0027]FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the direction deviationtracking operation of FIG. 10 in further detail.

[0028]FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a pair ofswitchable polarity output terminals, as generally illustrated in FIG.2, connected to a dual-motor vehicle device operable based upon outputpolarity.

[0029]FIGS. 13 and 14 are schematic block diagrams similar to FIG. 12and both illustrating alternate connection arrangements in which thevehicle device is connected to a vehicle battery.

[0030]FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the pair of switchablepolarity output terminals of FIG. 12 in greater detail.

[0031]FIGS. 16 and 17 are flowcharts illustrating yet another aspect ofthe present invention for varying a frequency at which the vehicletracking unit of FIG. 1 sends vehicle position information to themonitoring station.

[0032]FIGS. 18A and 18B are flowcharts illustrating yet another aspectof the invention for using the vehicle tracking unit as shown in FIG. 1to determine and send vehicle position information based upon thevehicle moving outside a radial threshold distance from a user selectedreference location.

[0033]FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the vehicletracking unit of FIG. 1 including a user input device for setting theuser selected reference location and/or a threshold time.

[0034]FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating the user selectedradial threshold and a radial threshold distance therefrom.

[0035]FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating another aspect of theinvention for using the vehicle tracking unit of FIG. 1 to provide analarm indication for locating a vehicle and cease providing the alarmindication based upon a user input.

[0036]FIGS. 22 and 23 are flowcharts illustrating yet another aspect ofthe invention for sending alarm indication alerts based upon vehiclesensor activation.

[0037]FIGS. 24 and 25 are flowcharts illustrating a further aspect ofthe invention for selectively sending alert messages to a user.

[0038]FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle trackingcircuit of FIG. 1 further including a security device detection circuit.

[0039]FIGS. 27 and 28 are flowcharts illustrating another aspect of theinvention for bypassing sending security signals while performingcertain vehicle functions.

[0040]FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle tracking unitof FIG. 1 also including the security device detection circuit and abattery sensing circuit.

[0041]FIGS. 30 and 31 are flowcharts illustrating a still further aspectof the invention for reducing excessive power drain on the vehiclebattery and/or the back-up battery.

[0042]FIG. 32 is a perspective view of the vehicle tracking unit of FIG.1 and further including a housing with an upgrade connector for anupgrade device.

[0043]FIG. 33 is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle tracking unitof FIG. 32.

[0044]FIGS. 34 and 35 are flowcharts illustrating missed activationsignal retrieval features of the present invention.

[0045]FIG. 36 is a schematic block diagram of an alternate embodiment ofthe vehicle as shown in FIG. 2 including a vehicle data bus.

[0046]FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controllingoperable vehicle devices using the vehicle tracking unit and vehicledata bus shown in FIG. 36.

[0047]FIGS. 38 and 39 are flowcharts illustrating a method according tothe invention for sending alert indications based upon learning uniquelycoded transmitters.

[0048]FIGS. 40 and 41 are flowcharts illustrating a related methodaccording to the invention for sending alert indications based uponlearning unique biometric characteristics.

[0049]FIGS. 42 and 43 are flowcharts illustrating another aspectaccording to the present invention for determining fault conditions ofthe vehicle tracking unit of FIG. 1.

[0050]FIGS. 44 and 45 are flowcharts illustrating still anotheradvantageous aspect of the invention for providing theft alerts basedupon vehicle alarm indicator activation and a drop in vehicle batteryvoltage.

[0051]FIG. 46 and 47 are flowcharts illustrating a further aspect of theinvention for testing output drivers of the vehicle tracking unit ofFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0052] The present invention will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichpreferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

[0053] Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the vehicle tracking system 20 inaccordance with the invention is now initially described. The vehiclesystem 20 illustratively includes a vehicle tracking unit 25 to bemounted in the vehicle 21 and a monitoring station 30 which is remotefrom the vehicle and which is typically in a fixed location. In theillustrated embodiment, the vehicle tracking unit 25 interfaces withvarious vehicle devices, such as may include security sensors, doorlocks, etc. as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0054] The vehicle tracking unit 25 is also illustratively connected toa separate vehicle security system 27 as may already be installed in thevehicle 21, from the factory or installed as an aftermarket product.Those of skill in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments ofthe vehicle tracking system 20 a separate vehicle security system 27 maynot be needed, and/or various features thereof can be readilyincorporated in the vehicle tracking unit 25.

[0055] The monitoring station 30 may typically service a number ofsubscribers 31. As shown perhaps best in FIG. 3, the monitoring station30 may include a user interface, such as the schematically illustratedtelephone network interface 33 and the internet interface 34 which areschematically coupled to a telephone 35, and a computer 36,respectively. Of course in other embodiments, other interfaces may beused and only one of the illustrated interfaces may be needed. Those ofskill in the art will also recognize that messages may be sent to asubscriber or user via preprogrammed voice messages, e-mail messages,facsimile messages, pager alerts, etc. In addition commands orinstructions from the subscriber can also be input to the monitoringstation 30 via the telephone network interface 33 and/or the internetinterface 34, from the subscribers telephone 35 or computer 36.

[0056] The monitoring station 30 is illustrated connected to a cellulartelephone tower 32 which, in turn, may communicate with the vehicletracking unit 25 in some embodiments. Of course, in other embodimentsother communications approaches are also contemplated, such as, forexample, including satellite communications.

[0057] The monitoring station 30 may typically include the necessarymodems, and other communications electronics, and computers for itsfunctions which are described in greater detail below. The configurationof such components and their details will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, no further discussion of these detailsis needed.

[0058] Referring now more specifically to FIG. 2, additional details ofthe vehicle tracking unit 25 and devices at the vehicle are now furtherdescribed. The vehicle tracking unit 25 illustratively includes acontroller 40, a vehicle position determining device 42, and a wirelesscommunications device 44 connected together. The vehicle positiondetermining device 42 may be provided by a GPS receiver, for example.The GPS receiver typically operates by receiving multiple signals fromspaced apart satellites 38 as will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art.

[0059] In other embodiments, the vehicle position determining device 42may be provided based upon communications with the cellular telephonenetwork, or based upon other satellite transmissions, for example. As aparticular example, time of arrival techniques are available based uponmultiple reception paths to determine position via the cellulartelephone network as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.The vehicle position determining device 42 also illustratively includesan indicator 43 associated therewith, such as for indicating anoperating mode, or proper operation of the device as will be addressedin greater detail below.

[0060] The wireless communications device 44 may be provided by acellular telephone transceiver configured to operate on a controlchannel of the cellular network. Such a control channel may providenearly universal coverage for the tracking system 20 as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. In addition, the controlchannel may offer relatively inexpensive communications between themonitoring station 30 and the vehicle tracking unit 25 as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. The wireless communicationsdevice 44 also illustratively includes an optional status indicator 45with a similar function as the indicator 43 for the vehicle positiondetermining device.

[0061] The wireless communications device 44 in other embodiments, maytransmit in the voiceband of the cellular network. Alternately, thewireless communications device may communicate over other networks, suchas over satellite, or via wireless internet services, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0062] The controller 40 illustratively includes a central processingunit (CPU) 50 or other logic circuitry which is connected to a clocksignal generator 51 and a memory 52. In other embodiments, the memory 52may be an embedded memory in the CPU 50. The controller 40 also includesschematically illustrated input/output circuitry 53 to interface withvarious vehicle devices. In particular the input/output circuitry 53 mayprovide dual polarity compatibility for one or more inputs or outputs aswill described in greater detail below. One or more of the terminals ofthe input/output circuitry 53 may also provide both input and outputfunctions as will also be described in greater detail below. This maysignificantly simplify and accelerate installation of the vehicletracking unit 25 in the vehicle 21.

[0063] Also illustratively shown as part of the vehicle tracking unit 25are a back-up battery 54, and switch 55 connected thereto forselectively powering certain of the components based upon the controller40. Of course, the vehicle 21 also includes an electrical systemincluding the vehicle battery 61. Powering of the vehicle tracking unit25 is described in greater detail below.

[0064] The vehicle 21 also includes a number of other components thatmay relate to vehicle tracking, security, and/or convenience featuresprovided by the vehicle tracking system 20. For example, the vehicle 21may include one or more door lock actuators 62, an optional remotestarting device 63, a starter interrupt device 66 and an alarm indicator67. For example, the alarm indicator may be provided by a vehicle hornor vehicle siren, and/or flashing of the lights.

[0065] The optional separate security system 27 illustratively includesa vehicle security controller 28 and a receiver 29 connected thereto. Asis conventional, the vehicle security system 27 may be switched betweenarmed and disarmed modes, for example, by one or more uniquely codedremote transmitters 60. The vehicle security controller 28 may also becapable of learning a new uniquely coded remote transmitter 60 as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. The vehicle securitycontroller 28 also illustratively is connected to the starter interruptdevice 66 and the alarm indicator 67.

[0066] For ease of explanation, a number of the features of the vehicletracking system 20 are now described. The vehicle tracking system 20includes a number of features that may simplify installation andmaintenance. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle tracking unit25 may have a test switch 71 connected to the controller 40.

[0067] In normal operation, the controller 40 may be called upon tooperate at least one vehicle device. Of course, the controller 40 alsocooperates with the wireless communications device 44 and the vehicleposition determining device 42 to determine and send vehicle positioninformation to the monitoring station 30. Moreover, the controller 40may be switchable to a test mode for test operation of the at least onevehicle device responsive to activation of the test switch 71.

[0068] In some embodiments, the at least one vehicle device may be aplurality of vehicle devices that are tested by operation in sequence.For example, the at least one vehicle device may comprise at least onedoor lock actuator 62. The at least one vehicle device may also comprisethe starter interrupt device 66, or the engine remote starter 63 ifremote starting is an implemented feature. The at least one vehicledevice which is tested, may also be the alarm indicator 67. Accordingly,an installer, for example, can quickly check that the tracking unit hasbeen properly installed.

[0069] To further provide for ready determination of proper operation ofthe vehicle tracking unit 25, one or both of the position determiningand wireless communications devices 42, 44 may include associatedindicators 43, 45 as mentioned briefly above, and which provide anindication relating to proper operation. Each indicator 43, 45 mayindicate a mode of operation of the device, its proper operation, or apartial or complete failure of the device.

[0070] Another aspect of the invention is that the controller 40 mayprovide a selectable polarity for the at least one vehicle device basedupon sensing thereof. Accordingly, a predetermined activation of thetest switch 71 may cause the controller 40 to sense and select theproper polarity. Pressing the test switch 71 for a predetermined time orin a predetermined pattern may sense and set the polarity.

[0071] Another feature of the vehicle tracking unit 25 and vehicletracking system 20 relates to conservation of the number of codes ormessages that need to be sent to the vehicle tracking unit. Inparticular, the controller 40 may have a plurality of differentcontroller states and respond differently to a same message from themonitoring station 30 at different times depending upon the controllerstate at a given time. Accordingly, a number of codes or messages usedby the system can be conserved. Various messages are described ingreater detail below.

[0072] A controller state may change based upon several differentoccurrences or events. For example the controller may change states inresponse to a change in at least one vehicle device, or based upon amessage received by the wireless communications device 44 from themonitoring station 30, and/or based upon elapsed time. The controllerstates, for example, may include an alert sent state based upon an alertmessage being sent from the wireless communications device 44.Thereafter, receipt of a predetermined message by the wirelesscommunications device 44 when the controller 40 is in the alert sentstate may confirm receipt of the alert message by the monitoringstation.

[0073] Receipt of the predetermined message by the wirelesscommunications device 44 when the controller 40 is in another statedifferent than the alert sent state may thus cause a different responseby the controller. The alert sent state may comprise at least one of avehicle stolen alert sent state, a vehicle alarm sounding alert sentstate, a vehicle speeding alert sent state, an unauthorized remotetransmitter alert sent state, a low vehicle battery alert sent state,and a device malfunction alert sent state. The various alert messagesand confirmation thereof are described in greater detail below.

[0074] The code or message conservation aspects of the vehicle trackingsystem 20 also permit sending a sequence of codes or messages within apredetermined time to also cause a different response at the vehicletracking unit 25. In other words, the plurality of controller states maycomprise a received first message state based upon a first message beingreceived by the wireless communications device 44 from the monitoringstation 30. Receipt of a second message by the wireless communicationsdevice 44 when the controller 40 is in the received first message state,such as within a predetermined time window, for example, may thus causea different response by the controller than does receipt of the secondmessage when the controller is in another state than the received firstmessage state.

[0075] The plurality of controller states may comprise a vehicle finderstate sounding an audible signal via the alarm indicator 67 at thevehicle 21. In this state the controller 40 would bypass sending avehicle alarm sounding alert to the monitoring station 30.

[0076] Another aspect of the vehicle tracking system 20 is the provisionof certain power conservation and management techniques, such as topermit extended periods where the vehicle 21 is not operation. Duringsuch extended periods, the vehicle battery 61 provides power to thevehicle tracking unit 25 as well as other vehicle devices. Accordingly,the voltage of the vehicle battery 61 drops over time. The vehicletracking unit 25 may provide a significant drain on the vehicle battery61 because of the power consumed by the wireless communications device44 during transmission as will be appreciated by those skilled in theart.

[0077] The vehicle position determining device 42, the wirelesscommunications device 44 and the controller 40 may be considered asdefining a power load of the vehicle tracking unit 25. The controller 40may operate the schematically illustrated power switch 55 to isolate theback-up battery 54 from the power load as a voltage of the vehiclebattery 61 drops until reaching a threshold. After or below thethreshold the controller 40 may cause the back-up battery 54 toselectively power only a first portion of the power load while a secondportion of the power load remains powered by the vehicle battery.

[0078] For example, the wireless communications device 44 may have ahigher operating voltage than the vehicle position determining device42. The first portion of the power load that is selectively powereddespite the low vehicle battery voltage may thus be the wirelesscommunications device 44. In particular, the wireless communicationsdevice 44 may be powered for transmission. Accordingly, the back-upbattery 54 can be saved for limited communication using the highervoltage wireless communications device 44. This provides useful featureseven after an extended period during which the vehicle 21 is leftunattended and the vehicle battery 61 gradually discharges.

[0079] To further conserve power, the controller 40 may reduce operationof the power load as vehicle battery voltage falls. Conversely, thecontroller 40 may restore operation of the power load based upon thevoltage of the vehicle battery 61 rising again, such as upon beingrecharged.

[0080] Also relating to power consumption, the controller 40 furthercauses transmission of a low vehicle battery voltage alert to themonitoring station 30 based upon the voltage of the vehicle battery 61falling below the threshold. The user or subscriber may cause themonitoring station 30 to issue a remote start command. The controller 40may then generate a remote start output to the remote start device 63 tothereby start the engine and recharge the vehicle battery.

[0081] Another feature of the vehicle tracking system 20 is that thevehicle tracking unit 25 may be readily installed and connected to avehicle 21, such as in the illustrated embodiment where the vehicleincludes a starter interrupt device 66 and a separate vehicle securitycontroller 28. More particularly, the controller 40 may switch betweenan armed mode and a disarmed mode based upon operation of the enginestarter interrupt device 66. The controller 40 when in the armed modemay cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 to send analert message to the monitoring station 30 and including vehicleposition information, for example, based upon the vehicle positiondetermining device 42. The controller 40 is also for selectivelyoperating the engine starter interrupt device 66 to provide additionalsecurity features.

[0082] In one advantageous embodiment, the controller 40 preferablycomprises a combination input and output terminal for connection to theengine starter interrupt device. This terminal is at the input/outputcircuitry 53 and is schematically illustrated by reference numeral 72.The controller 40 may switch to the armed mode when in the disarmed modeand based upon the engine starter interrupt device 66 being operated todisable engine starting. Conversely, the controller 40 may switch to thedisarmed mode based upon the engine starter interrupt device 66 beingoperated to enable engine starting. In other words, the vehicle trackingunit 25 can piggyback its arming and disarming off the existing vehiclesecurity system 27, for example.

[0083] The controller 40 may also selectively operate the engine starterinterrupt device 66 based upon a command message from the monitoringstation 30. The controller 40 may selectively operate the engine starterinterrupt device 66 based upon a command message from the monitoringstation 30. Alternately, or in addition thereto, the controller 40 mayselectively operate the engine starter interrupt device 66 based uponthe ignition switch 65.

[0084] The following descriptive portions relate to various user orsubscriber notifications and features provided by the vehicle trackingsystem 20. Of course, the controller 40 preferably cooperates with thewireless communications device 44 to send an alert message. Themonitoring station 30 may comprise a user interface, such as one or bothof the telephone network or internet interfaces 33, 34, respectively(FIG. 3), for generating a sequence of alert message notifications basedupon receiving the alert message sent from the vehicle tracking unit 25.More particularly, the monitoring station interface permits cancelingany remaining alert message notification based upon a cancellationcommand response from a user or subscriber having already received thealert message notification. The user may send the cancellation responsevia the telephone 35 or computer 36 (FIG. 3), for example. Thus, if theuser may be reached at different telephone numbers or different usersare desirably notified of the alert, this aspect of the vehicle trackingsystem 20 can make the notifications efficiently and without makingunnecessary notifications.

[0085] The vehicle tracking system 20 may provide any of a number ofvery useful alerts, as discussed herein. For example, the alert messagesent from the vehicle tracking unit may comprise at least one of avehicle stolen alert message, and a vehicle alarm sounding alertmessage. The alert message may be one of a vehicle speeding alertmessage, and a vehicle acceleration alert message. In addition, thealert message may comprise an unauthorized remote transmitter alertmessage. Also, the alert message may be at least one of a low vehiclebattery alert message, and a device malfunction alert message.

[0086] The speeding alert may be based upon exceeding a speed thresholdfor greater than a certain time, which may be user selectable. Theacceleration alert may also be useful as such is also indicative ofaggressive driving along with the speeding alert. The unauthorizedremote transmitter alert increases overall security since a user will benotified if a would-be thief learns an unauthorized transmitter tooperate the controller. These alerts are described in greater detailbelow.

[0087] The vehicle tracking system 20 may be implemented as a service toa subscriber. In other words, the subscriber pays a monthly fee for theservice. Accordingly, it may be important to encourage a user toregister. Similar subscriber or registrations systems in the past havesuffered revenue losses since some users would wait to activate thesystem until the vehicle was stolen. In other words, the user would onlysubscribe or register and pay a single month's fee.

[0088] In accordance with this aspect of the vehicle tracking system 20prompt user registration is encouraged. In particular, the vehicletracking unit 25 may include the user registration reminder indicator 56and the controller 40 may be switchable from an unregistered mode to aregistered mode. In the registered mode, the controller 40 may cooperatewith the wireless communications device 44 and the vehicle positiondetermining device 42 to determine and send vehicle position informationto the monitoring station 30. In the unregistered mode, the controller40 may activate the user registration reminder indicator 56 to encourageregistration by the user.

[0089] The controller 40 may be switchable to the registered mode basedupon an activation message from the monitoring station 30. For example,when the registration payment has been received, the monitoring stationcan send one or more messages to the vehicle tracking unit 25 to stopactivation of the registration reminder indicator 56. The indicator 56may be audible, visual or both. For example, the registration reminderindicator 56 could be a beeping sound generated by a small piezoelectrictransducer every ten minutes or so when the ignition 65 is on.

[0090] In other words, the user registration reminder indicator 56 mayprovide a minor but irritating annoyance to the user to encourageregistration. Upon successfully registering, the annoyance is abated.Accordingly, a relatively straightforward approach is provided toencourage user registration.

[0091] Along these lines, the controller 40 when in the unregisteredmode may have reduced features compared to the registered mode. Forexample, the controller 40 when in the unregistered mode may berestricted or limited in sending messages with the wirelesscommunications device 44. Accordingly, usage of the wirelesscommunications network may be reduced. Transmissions from the vehicletracking unit 25 may also be beneficially suppressed during originalinstallation, for example.

[0092] Returning again to features of the vehicle tracking unit 25 whichfacilitate installation, the controller 40 may send an alarm indicationalert responsive to a continuous activation of the alarm indicator 67for greater than a predetermined time. Alternately, or in additionthereto, the controller 40 may send an alarm indication alert responsiveto a repetitive pattern of alarm indicator 67 activations. In otherwords, the controller may be configured to distinguish between normaloperation of a vehicle horn by the driver, and activation of the horn bythe security system 27. As mentioned above, the controller 40 may alsomonitor signals of at least one of a first and second polarity. Thecontroller 40 thus advantageously piggybacks off the alarm indicationgenerated by the vehicle security system 27 to determine and send avehicle alarm sounding alert to the monitoring station 30.

[0093] In one variation, the controller 40 may monitor signals delivereddirectly to the vehicle alarm indicator by the vehicle securitycontroller 28. In another variation, the controller 40 monitors signalsof voltage dips of the vehicle battery 61. Circuitry is conventionallyand readily available for both such functions, as will be readilyappreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0094] The controller 40 may also include a dual polarity compatibleoutput in the input/output circuitry 53 for a vehicle device, such asthe vehicle alarm indicator 67. The controller 40 may further monitorsignals relating to activation of the vehicle alarm indicator 67 andsend an alarm indication alert with position information from thevehicle position determining device and using the wireless communicationdevice.

[0095] For the dual polarity output compatibility, the controller 40 maygenerate a first polarity output pulse followed by a second polarityoutput pulse. The controller 40 may also generate a repeating pattern ofa first polarity output pulse followed by a second polarity output pulseon the dual polarity compatible output. In yet other embodiments, thecontroller 40 may sense an actual polarity of the device and thereafteruse the actual polarity for the dual polarity compatible output.

[0096] Where the vehicle device is a vehicle horn, the controller 40 maytypically be configured to generate a negative polarity output on thedual polarity compatible output. Conversely, wherein the vehicle deviceis a vehicle alarm indicator siren, the controller 40 may be configuredto generate a positive polarity output on the dual polarity compatibleoutput.

[0097] Another aspect of the vehicle tracking system 20 relates toconserving memory space and/or reducing transmission time over thecommunications network. In accordance with this advantageous feature,the controller 40 may determine the vehicle position informationincluding a vehicle location and an associated stationary period foreach occurrence of the vehicle remaining stationary for greater than apredetermined period. In one embodiment, the controller 40 may cooperatewith the wireless transmission device 44 to send the vehicle positioninformation to the monitoring station based upon each occurrence of thevehicle remaining stationary for greater than the predetermined period.In this embodiment, the monitoring station 30 may associate a time witheach occurrence of the vehicle remaining stationary for greater than thepredetermined period. In other words, the monitoring station 30 may timestamp the received information.

[0098] In another embodiment, the controller 40 cooperates with thewireless transmission device 44 to send the vehicle position informationto the monitoring station 30 for a plurality of occurrences of thevehicle remaining stationary for greater than the predetermined period.In this embodiment, the controller 40 may associate a time with eachoccurrence of the vehicle remaining stationary for greater than thepredetermined period. In other words, the controller time stamps theposition and stationary period information.

[0099] As an example, the predetermined time which determines whetherthe vehicle 21 is stationary and the position should be determined, maybe less than about three minutes. This time may filter out vehicle stopsin normal traffic, but which will keep track of stops where the driverlikely leaves the vehicle 21. Accordingly, only the importantinformation necessary to track the vehicle need be stored and/ortransmitted thereby reducing the system costs. If the vehicle 21 isstationary overnight, for example, unnecessary position information neednot be determined, stored, and/or transmitted to the monitoring station30.

[0100] The controller 40 may comprise the memory 52 for storing thevehicle position information therein. In one configuration, thecontroller 40 downloads the vehicle position information from the memory52 to the monitoring station 30 based upon a predetermined schedule. Inanother configuration, the controller 40 downloads the vehicle positioninformation from the memory 52 to the monitoring station 30 based upon apredetermined event. In yet another configuration, the controller 40downloads the vehicle position information from the memory 52 to themonitoring station 30 based upon a predetermined percentage of memoryusage.

[0101] Having now described certain general features and advantages ofthe vehicle tracking system 20, this description now turns to additionalspecific details which are provided as examples. In particular, vehicletracking system 20 preferably implements one or more of the followingfeatures:

[0102] 1. Detects the vehicle being stolen and transmits a signal to themonitoring station to contact up to 3 people, for example, predeterminedby the user, of theft of the vehicle and then starts tracking thevehicle. The contact may be by one or more of the following: an e-mailmessage, a pager alert, a cellular telephone call, or other telephonecall.

[0103] 2. Detects an optional vehicle security or alarm systemactivation and transmits a signal to the monitoring station to contactup to 3 predetermined people to inform them the vehicle's alarm is beingactivated.

[0104] 3. Detects an optional vehicle alarm system's remote PANICactivation and transmits a signal to the monitoring station to contactup to 3 predetermined people to inform them of the vehicle's PANIC beingactivated.

[0105] 4. Detects a vehicle being programmed to operate from anunauthorized remote transmitter, key transponder, other transponder, orother device that has a unique coding, and the vehicle unit transmits asignal to the monitoring station to contact up to 3 predetermined peopleto inform them of this occurrence. The system can also make availableinformation relating to a number of such coded devices, or a changetherein, or when a change occurred. A message can be sent to the user orthe information can be available to the user on the WEB site. Thevehicle would be equipped with a security system as disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 5,654,688, for example, which determines an unauthorizedtransmitter and provides an alert feature. This patent is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

[0106] 5. Detects the vehicle traveling over a predetermined speed, suchas for a predetermined time, and transmits a signal to the monitoringstation to send a message, such as an e-mail informing the user (and/orothers) of this occurrence. Of course, the message could also be sentvia a telephone call or page, should additional urgency be required. Thevehicle's predetermined maximum speed limit and duration thereof can beselected by the user.

[0107] 6. Detects a low battery voltage such as for a predetermined timeand transmits a signal to the monitoring station to contact up to 3predetermined people to inform them of vehicle's low battery voltage.This is especially advantageous during winter so that the vehicle couldbe started, for example, to prevent a problem before it happens). Thetime setting is preferably selectable by the user.

[0108] 7. Detects the vehicle not moving for a predetermined time andtransmits a signal to the monitoring station to send, for example, anightly e-mail informing the user of all the vehicle's location andstationary time occurrences. The stationary time length is alsoselectable. This may be advantageous to encourage patrolling personnelnot to remain for a long time in a same location.

[0109] 8. The vehicle unit preferably includes a back-up battery systemmaking it more reliable.

[0110] The vehicle unit may be relatively inexpensive. In addition, themonitoring fee that includes sending up to 60 e-mails and making up to 6phone calls per month, may also be relatively low. The relatively lowmonitoring fee is based, at least in part, on the current relatively lowrates charged for use of the control channel of the cellular telephonenetwork. It is also noted that access to the control channel providescoverage for almost the entire U.S., for example.

[0111] The user or subscriber also preferably has access to an Internetsite that will display a map and silently contact the vehicle to acquireit's current location, speed, direction of travel, and previous multiplelocations with speeds, for example, the user's personal identificationnumber (PIN) can be quickly activated by a telephone call. No additionalinstallation may be required.

[0112] Certain annual pre-pay package arrangements may be available. Forexample, up to 10 access entries per month can be provided on a lowmonthly billing. Up to 30 access entries could be provided also for arelatively low monthly fee.

[0113] The present invention provides a number of other significantadvantages including optional access from any phone or from any computerto access the monitoring station internet site. The user may controlvarious vehicle functions remotely via the telephone or the internetsite. The only charge may be for additional equipment and installation.

[0114] Additional features can also be included with the system andsubscribed to by the user in accordance with the invention. For example,these include Hijack, Car Finding, Unlock Doors and UnauthorizedTransmitter Alert Features. The equipment and installation is relativelyinexpensive. For the hijack feature: from any phone or computer, theuser may activate vehicle starter interrupt and sound the horn until thevehicle is retrieved (Command 4).

[0115] For the Car Finding feature: from any phone or computer, the usermay activate the vehicle's horn, or siren and sound same for 30 seconds.This allows the user to find his vehicle in a crowded parking lot(Command 5).

[0116] For the Lock/Unlock vehicle doors feature: from any phone orcomputer a predetermined command (Command 7) activates unlocking ofvehicle doors to retrieve keys, for example, that may have beenaccidentally locked inside the vehicle. Of course, the system can alsobe used to lock vehicle doors if this was forgotten (Command 6). Theunauthorized transmitter alert feature is similarly selected asdescribed above.

[0117] In addition, a remote vehicle start feature may also be provided,such as to start the vehicle's engine to heat or cool the vehicle priorto entry. The equipment and installation for remote starting may berelatively low. Some further details of a specific embodiment of thevehicle tracking unit 25 are provided below as relating to use of redand green LED indicators as may be coupled to the controller 40 andoperated thereby. Also various representative wires, designated bycolor, are provided as an example embodiment.

[0118] The red LED verifies the GPS receiving signal. With a yellow wirehaving positive 12 volts, the red LED blinking indicates searching GPSlocation, constant indicates found location, and off indicates no GPSsignal found. With the yellow wire not having positive 12 volts, if thered LED is off, the LED is not functioning.

[0119] The green LED verifies receiving the cell tower signal. With theyellow wire having positive 12 volts, blinking indicates the cellcontrol channel signal is detected, constant indicates sending a microburst signal (LED stays on 5 seconds after each transmission, and offindicates no cell tower signal received. With the yellow wire not havingpositive 12 volts, off indicates the green LED is not functioning.

[0120] An example of representative DIP switch feature selection is asfollows. A first switch may be used for adding the orange wire forcontrolling arm/disarming of system. When on, the orange wire controlsarm/disarm as follows: to arm, the orange wire is grounded and theyellow wire does not have 12 volts positive. To disarm, the orange wireis not grounded. When the first switch is off, then only the yellow wirecontrols arm/disarm as follows: to arm, the yellow wire is without 12volts positive, and 30 seconds after continued arm mode then the orangewire activates a constant 500 ma grounded output to operate an externalstarter interrupt relay until the system is disarmed. To disarm, theyellow wire is connected to 12 volts positive.

[0121] A main 5-pin plug may be provided on the vehicle unit andconnected as follows:

[0122] 1. The Red Wire is connected to the 12 vdc power. An alertwarning “E” is given if the system is armed and the battery voltagebecomes lower than 11 volts for longer than ## minutes. This alertfeature “E” will not operate again until the voltage is above 12 voltsto re-set this feature.

[0123] 2. The black wire is connected to ground.

[0124] 3. The yellow wire is connected to the ignition 12 volts so thatif the key is on, 12 volts is supplied thereto and if the key is off,the yellow wire is connected to ground. Further: if the system is in anarmed mode and the Lat/Long changes, then Alert “A” is given. If thesystem is disarmed and within 2.5 seconds after the yellow wire receives12 volts and the gray wire detects 3 or more positive pulses the systemactivates Alert “D”. If the first DIP switch is in the off positionthen: if 12 volts is on yellow wire, the system is disarmed and theorange wire discontinues from the 500 ma ground, and if the yellow wiresees ground or neutral, then the system is armed and 30 seconds afterthe continued arm mode the orange wire activates a constant 500 magrounded output to operate an external starter interrupt relay until thesystem is disarmed

[0125] 4. The gray wire is for input and output, and can be connected toan alarm siren or horn positive terminal. In addition:

[0126] a. With the system armed and if the gray wire detects +12 vpulsing on/off or on constant for more than 10 seconds from an alarmsiren or horn honking activation, then alert warning “B” alarmactivation is given.

[0127] b. With system disarmed and if the gray wire detects +12 vpulsing on/off or on constant for more than 10 seconds from an alarmsiren or horn honking activation, then alert warning “C” panicactivation is given.

[0128] c. With system disarmed and if the Gray wire detects 3 or more 12volt positive pulses within 2.5 seconds of yellow wire receiving 12 v+and the gray wire by-pass not being activated, then alert warning “D” isgiven.

[0129] d. The gray wire bypass operates as follows:

[0130] i. After alert warning “B” bypass all future alert “B” signalsuntil system is disarmed.

[0131] ii. After alert warning “C” bypass all future Alert “C” signalsuntil system is armed.

[0132] iii. After alert warning “D” bypass all future alert “D” signalsuntil no 12 volt pulses are detected on the gray wire within 3 secondsof the yellow wire having 12 volts.

[0133] e. With the system armed or disarmed. The Output: Internal +12 v,1 amp transistor with pulses 1 second on and 1 seconds off to activatesiren or honk car horn or flashing light relay.

[0134] i. Non-stop activation from (Command “4”)

[0135] ii 30-second activation from (Command “5”)

[0136] f. Turn off the above alert “A” from (Command “1”).

[0137] 5. The orange wire is for the starter interrupt and arm/disarmsystem, and operates as follows:

[0138] a. If first DIP switch is in the:

[0139] i. On position and: the orange wire has 12 volts or neutral, thesystem switches to the disarmed mode; the orange wire is grounded, thenthe system is switched to the armed mode; and the starter interruptoutput will not automatically operate. It can only be activated from“Command #4”

[0140] ii. Off position and the orange wire does not effect the armingor disarming of the system; 30 seconds after system arms the orange wirewill automatically activate constant 500 ma ground until the system isdisarmed. And from “command #4”. Connect to Starter interrupt relayoutput.

[0141] b. Command 4 activates Orange wire to have 500 ma. negative untilCommand 1 is received.

[0142] c. After Alert warning “B” is activated the first time it isthereafter bypassed while the orange wire remains grounded. Alertwarning “B” is re-set to operate again 3 seconds after orange wirebecomes ungrounded.

[0143] The vehicle unit may also include a Door Lock Plug configured asfollows, for example. A green wire provides a 250 ma, negative 1 secondpulse for Lock Doors. (Command “6”). A red wire provides a constant 12 voutput from the red power wire. A blue wire provides a 250 ma., negative1 second pulse for Unlock Doors (Command “7”). A pink wire provides a250 ma., negative 1 second pulse for remote Car Starter (Command “2”).

[0144] An installation test button may also be provided to work asfollows. Pressing the button activates the orange wire for 10-seconds(starter interrupt), with these circuits in sequence. First, itactivates the gray wire for 1-second (siren/horn). After the firststops, it activates the green wire for 1 second to lock the doors. Afterthe second stops, it activates the blue wire for 1 second to unlock thedoors. After the third stops, it activates the pink wire for 1 second toactivate an optional item.

[0145] Representative warning alerts are as follows:

[0146] 1. Alert Warning “A” (FIG. 4): Automatic activation of “Command8” and the vehicle unit contacts monitoring station to instantly call 3phone numbers with the message “Your Vehicle is stolen please confirmthen call 911 to advise police of web site and your pin # so police canlocate the vehicle”. This is detected with the system armed and the GPSindicating movement. Bypasses all future alert warning “A” signals untilthe system is re-armed.

[0147] 2. Alert Warning “B” (FIGS. 5A-5C): the vehicle unit contacts themonitoring station to instantly call 3 phone numbers with the followingmessage “Vehicle alarm activated please confirm”. This is with thesystem armed and detecting gray wire having 12 volts pulsing or onconstant for longer than 10-seconds. After alert warning “B” isactivated the first time, it is thereafter bypassed while the orangewire remains grounded. Alert warning “B” is re-set to operate again 3seconds after orange wire becomes ungrounded.

[0148] 3. Alert Warning “C” (FIG. 6): the vehicle unit contacts themonitoring station to instantly send e-mail message “vehicle wastraveling faster than your preset amount of “###” and time limit of “##”seconds. Indicates the vehicle speed and location that the speedingstarted and how long speeding accrued” (Detected from GPS). This aspectis further understood with reference to the enclosed flowchart 84 ofFIG. 6.

[0149] 4. Alert Warning “D” (FIG. 7): the vehicle unit contacts themonitoring station to instantly call 3 phone numbers with the message“Unauthorized remote transmitter was just programmed to operate yourvehicle.” This is with the system disarmed and the Gray wire detectingthree or more 12 volt pulses within 2.5 seconds of the yellow wirehaving seen 12 volts positive. All future alerts “D” are bypassed untilno 12 volt pulses are detected on the gray wire within 3 seconds of theyellow wire seeing 12 volts. This aspect is further understood withreference to the enclosed flowchart 85 of FIG. 7.

[0150] 5. Alert Warning “E” (FIG. 8): the vehicle unit contacts themonitoring station to instantly call 3 phone numbers with the message“Vehicle has low battery voltage and system has changed to low voltagemode”. This is with the system armed and detecting the Red wire withlower than 11 volts for ## minutes. All future alerts “E” are bypasseduntil, first, more than 13.5 volts are detected on the red wire and,second, after the yellow wire stops having positive voltage the red wirethen must detect more than 12 volts.

[0151] The following are representative commands for use in the system:

[0152] Command 1: Reset all circuits and system remains asleep until theignition key is turned on. Resets the triggered mode and unit is asleepto prevent power drain on vehicle battery.

[0153] Command 2: (Accessory activation) monitoring station Command tothe system to activate Pink wire to pulse 250 ma negative for 1 second.

[0154] Command 3: (Vehicle Location) Web site to indicate presentlocation and past events in memory.

[0155] Command 4: (Hijack or Stolen) monitoring station Command tovehicle system to activate:

[0156] a. Gray wire to pulse 1 sec on/1 sec off with 1 amp positiveoutput and which continues until receive command # 1.

[0157] b. Orange wire to have 500 ma ground and which continues untilreceive command # 1.

[0158] Command 5: (Car Find) monitoring station Command to systemactivating Gray wire for 30 seconds pulsing 1 sec on/1 sec off with 1amp positive output.

[0159] Command 6: (Lock Doors) monitoring station Command to systemactivating Green wire to pulse 1 second with 250 ma. negative.

[0160] Command 7: (Unlock Doors) monitoring station Command to system toactivate Blue wire to pulse 1 second with 250 ma. negative.

[0161] Command 8: (Start Constant Vehicle Tracking) sends previous 2events in memory and then every 120 seconds get update of locationinformation sent to the Web site.

[0162] The system is also operable in a battery saver mode whichoperates as follows:

[0163] 1. With the ignition key off, if the battery voltage drops below11.5 volts for more than 5 seconds, the GPS verification wakes up tolook:

[0164] a. Once instantly.

[0165] b. Once in 1 hour if at the same location.

[0166] c. Once in 6 hours if at the same location.

[0167] d. Once in 12 hours if at the same location.

[0168] e. Once every 24 hours if at the same location.

[0169] f. Activate alert “E” when the battery saver mode is activated,and bypass sending all future Alert “E” until the battery voltage goesabove 13 volts for 10 minutes to reset this feature.

[0170] Another aspect of the invention relates to automatic vehiclealert e-mails sent containing some or all of the previous system events.This sending can be triggered as follows:

[0171] a) At a user selected predetermined time ## (01-24) of each day,or

[0172] b) At a predetermined memory fill level, such as full or nearfull.

[0173] In addition, each system event may contains one or more of thefollowing:

[0174] a) Vehicle Location

[0175] b) Vehicle total time at location

[0176] c) Time of day

[0177] d) Mph traveling

[0178] e) Total time traveling above MPH

[0179] f) Direction traveling

[0180] g) Delta

[0181] h) Special Alert messages, if any, including:

[0182] i) GPS signal not received for longer than 5 minutes.

[0183] ii) Traveling above ###MPH for ## minutes.

[0184] iii) Vehicle is stolen.

[0185] iv) Alarm activated.

[0186] v) Unauthorized remote transmitter alert.

[0187] vi) Battery saver mode activated

[0188] vii) Command 1: Reset all circuits and system remains asleepuntil the ignition key is turned on.

[0189] viii) Command 2: (Accessory activation)

[0190] ix) Command 3: (Vehicle Location was retrieved)

[0191] x) Command 4: (Hijack or Stolen mode activated)

[0192] xi) Command 5: (Car Find mode activated)

[0193] xii) Command 6: (Locked Doors)

[0194] xiii) Command 7: (Unlocked Doors)

[0195] xiv) Command 8: (Started 2-second incremental Vehicle Tracking)

[0196] Another feature of the invention relates to the selectablethreshold conditions causing an event to be recorded into the memory ofthe vehicle unit. For example, this may include: while the yellow wirehas 12 volts, record events every “??” default 15 minutes time if theGPS location has changed. If the GPS location is the same then onlyupdate stationary total time. If the GPS antenna is not receiving anysignal then enter last known GPS location and with an indication thatthis was the last known GPS location before the GPS signal stopped, howlong no GPS signal was received, and the GPS location in the on-holdfile, when the vehicle is traveling above ### MPH for ##-minutes.

[0197] The monitoring station may also provide a number of automatedphone calls as described above. These may include:

[0198] 1. The user's vehicle has issued a stolen alert:

[0199] a. If vehicle is stolen, after receiving the phone message theuser then calls 911 to advise police of the theft, and gives the policethe Web site address and an identification number, such as the user'sPIN, to allow the police to locate where your vehicle has been, where itis now and keep tracking it until the police can retrieve the vehicle.

[0200] b. If this is a false alert due to vehicle being towed away forservice, for example, then the user may press “1” to put the vehicle inan off mode. Once the ignition key is turned on again the system willreset back to its normal operation mode.

[0201] 2. The user's vehicle has issued an alarm activated for more than10 seconds alert. The system will not respond to this alert again untilignition key is turned on again to reset this feature.

[0202] 3. The vehicle battery voltage is low or has been disconnected.The tracking system is in low voltage mode. The system will not respondto this alert again until the battery voltage goes above 13 volts for 10minutes to reset this feature.

[0203] The backup battery may be sized according to the GPS receiver andprocessing power draw. In addition, the battery may also be sized basedupon estimated micro burst transmitting power draw. Such transmissionare typically at about 3 watts power to the antenna.

[0204] The system according to the invention including the vehicle unitand monitoring station provides a number of significant advantages andfeatures. For example, the police may be directly contacted by the userwhen the vehicle is stolen. The user receives the telephone message fromthe monitoring station 30, and this is done without requiring theintervention of a manual security monitoring operator, such as an ADToperator, for example. In addition, once in the stolen mode, the vehicleunit will periodically continue to send out its location, so that thepolice may track the vehicle via the WEB, for example. This locationsending feature may begin immediately, that is, without requiring theuser to contact the vehicle to begin tracking. Having the vehiclecontacting the monitoring station 30 is considerably less expensive thanother schemes where the vehicle is periodically polled via the cellularnetwork, for example.

[0205] The system may also be interfaced to a breath alcohol sensor atthe vehicle, for example, and this information recorded in memory. Theinformation could be passed along to the monitoring station 30, which,in turn, could send out a notification message (e-mail or telephone)that the vehicle is being operated by a driver who may be impaired byalcohol. The vehicle's location could then be tracked to permit thepolice to detain the driver.

[0206] Another aspect of the unit is that it may be able to recognizethe desirability to bypass certain security breach triggers or otherevents. For example, a car finding feature can be provided that willallow the user to sound the horn or siren when near the vehicle to helplocate the vehicle, as in a crowded parking area. Without the bypassfeature, the unit could recognize the horn or siren as a security breachand transmit such information to the monitoring center. In accordancewith this aspect of the invention, the unit would recognize the carfinding feature was activated and thereby bypass sending a securitybreach transmission, for example. Again, false alarms and unneeded usageand expense of the communications infrastructure would be avoided.

[0207] Yet another aspect of the invention relates to thwarting awould-be thief who attempts to disable the alarm by cutting the batterycable or power supplied to the system. The unit preferably includes aback-up battery. More particularly, upon being in an armed mode andsensing a breach of security, such as the hood opening, for example, theunit will send out a signal indicating the alarm or security breach andwhile the alarm is indicated, if the battery is disconnected then theunit will send out a message indicating the vehicle is stolen, and alsoproviding the vehicle's current position. Accordingly, the would-bethief is not able to defeat the security system by quickly disruptingpower to the unit during an alarm indication or security breach. Also,to prevent additional alerts, this message is prevented from beingtransmitting again until the user returns to the vehicle to disarm thesystem and/or turn on the ignition so that the unit sees a voltage above13 volts, indicating the vehicle has started using the owner's ignitionkey. This aspect is further understood with reference to the enclosedflowchart 80 (FIG. 4).

[0208] Still another aspect of the invention relates to how the unit candiscriminate between ordinary usage or honking of the horn as comparedto a security system triggered alarm. Most vehicle security systems willprovide a pattern of horn soundings as an alarm indication, and this canbe determined and used to reduce false alarm transmissions from theunit. For example, the unit can look at the number of leading andtrailing edges of the power pulse used to sound the horn. A singlepressing of the horn switch by the user will cause two edges within apredetermined time, such as about 10 to 12 seconds. Accordingly, theunit can be configured to not send a security breach transmission to thecontrol center based upon detecting two transitions. Since a number ofvehicle security systems may have a continuous sounding of the hornwithin the predetermined time, the unit can send the transmission upondetecting only a single transition.

[0209] A number of other vehicle security systems provide a series ofpulses or horn soundings within the predetermined time. Accordingly, theunit may also be configured to send a security breach transmission upondetecting greater than a predetermined number of transitions, such asgreater than nine, for example. This number is also typically higherthan a user would generate honking the horn several times within thepredetermined time. In other terms, the number of transitions of thehorn pulses can be counted, and if equal to one, or greater than nine,for example, the transmission is triggered, and otherwise the soundingof the horn is ignored. Also, to prevent additional alerts, this messageis prevented from being transmitted again until the user returns to thevehicle to disarm the system and/or turn on the ignition so that theunit sees a voltage above 13 volts, indicating the vehicle has startedusing the owner's ignition key. This aspect is further understood withreference to the enclosed flowcharts 81-83 (FIGS. 5A-5C).

[0210] Yet another feature of the invention relates to a low vehiclebattery alert. For example, the unit may monitor the battery voltageover a predetermined time such as ten minutes. The ten minute windowprevents false tripping, for example, when the voltage dips duringengine cranking. In particular, the voltage can be sensed and it can bedetermined whether it is greater than zero (e.g. greater than six volts)and less than a high value (e.g. eleven or twelve volts), and, if so, alow battery voltage transmission can be communicated to the monitoringstation 30, and ultimately to the vehicle user when away from thevehicle 21. If the vehicle is being serviced and the battery 61 isdisconnected, this will cause the battery voltage to be equal to zero.Then, the low battery voltage transmission will not be communicated tothe monitoring station 30. Also, to prevent additional alerts, thismessage is prevented from being transmitted again until the user returnsto the vehicle to disarm the system and/or turn on the ignition so thatthe unit sees a voltage above 13 volts, indicating the vehicle hasstarted using the owner's ignition key. Again, false triggerings arereduced. This aspect is further understood with reference to theenclosed flowchart 86 (FIG. 8).

[0211] Yet another advantageous feature of some embodiments of theinvention relates to the ability to conserve electrical power. Moreparticularly, when the vehicle is stopped and in the armed mode, the GPSreceiver may be periodically operated to determine the vehicle position.If the vehicle position changes, this is indicative that the vehicle isbeing moved or stolen. For example, the GPS receiver may be operated togenerate new vehicle position information every 29 seconds. Theserelatively quick successive position determinations or readings aregenerally termed hot start. These are relatively less complicated than acold start position determination which takes longer, since the coldstart position determination requires greater time to acquire andreceive data from multiple satellites, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

[0212] Unfortunately, this relatively high repeated usage of the GPSreceiver may cause unnecessary battery drain, especially when thevehicle is left armed and unattended by the user for an extended period.Accordingly, the power conserving feature of the invention permits theGPS receiver to be turned off when the vehicle is in the armed mode, andthe GPS receiver is turned on only when needed. For example, a vehiclesensor, such as a shock sensor, motion sensor, ignition sensor, doorsensor, or other sensor, or combinations thereof could be used to startthe GPS receiver. This sensor could also be used to trigger an alarm ifdesired; however it need not be so used in all embodiments. The GPSreceiver, once turned on, could operate in the normal periodic fashionas described above, or for a fixed period of time. The GPS receivercould also be turned off again after some predetermined time if nofurther sensor signal is received, or if the position fails to change onsubsequent position readings or determinations.

[0213] Yet another feature relates to permitting more colorful audiblealert messages to be generated for the user. The user can, in someembodiments, access an internet site to type or enter the text for amessage to be sent, such as to alert the user that his vehicle is beingstolen. The audible message then communicated by a telephone call to theuser is generated by a speech message synthesizer based upon the enteredtext. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the user couldtype in phonetically spelled words or phrases, such as to create morecolorful messages including slang terms, various accents, and/or tomimic various dialects, for example. The speech synthesizer would thengenerate the desired message customized for the user. Of course, thesystem could also permit the user to test or preview the pronunciationgenerated by the speech message synthesizer based on the entered textmessage prior to its adoption.

[0214] Another aspect relates to requesting GPS position informationfrom a vehicle. If a command is sent downstream to the vehiclerequesting that GPS information in turn be sent upstream from thevehicle, and the GPS information is not received within a predeterminedtime, such as about four minutes, then another command may be sent tothe vehicle requesting the GPS information. This may keep repeatinguntil GPS information is received, for a predetermined number of tries,or until a user instructs stopping of the requests. This helps to ensureand confirm the activation and reception of GPS tracking coordinatesfrom the vehicle.

[0215] Yet another aspect relates to reducing a frequency with which GPSinformation is sent from the vehicle. More particularly, the unit may beconfigured to activate GPS information transmission upstream every 2minutes. To reduce system usage expense and power consumption at thevehicle, this rate of transmission of GPS information could beprogressively decreased over time. For example, in one embodiment, uponactivation the GPS location signals could be sent every 2 minutes duringthe first hour, then once an hour for the next 23 hours, after whichonly one signal would be sent per day.

[0216] Turning now to the flowchart 87 of FIG. 9, still another aspectrelates to warning the user of an inoperable or malfunctioning GPS orcellular telephone section. More particularly, if the GPS or cellulartelephone antenna wire is cut or the mounting position of either ischanged causing the antenna to stop receiving the signal the user wouldnot ordinarily know of this problem quickly. In accordance with oneembodiment, if the ignition is turned on a predetermined number oftimes, such as about three, and each time ignition turns on if no GPS orno cell signal is received for a minimum time, such as about 15 to 30minutes or longer, an audible warning beeper may be activated in thevehicle. This beeper may be sounded once ever 15-minutes. At anytime ifthe GPS or cell signal is received properly then the system re-setsautomatically stopping the beeper sound.

[0217] As an example, if the ignition key is turned on and no GPS or noCell signal is being received for 15-minutes, and the vehicle ignitionstays on for 45 minutes and there is still no GPS or no cell signal, theunit counts one. Thereafter, if the ignition key is turned on and no GPSor no cell signal is being received for 15-minutes, and the vehicleignition stays on for 60-minutes and there is still no GPS or no cellsignal, a second count is determined. Thereafter, if the ignition isturned on and no GPS or no cell signal is received for 10-minutes, andthe vehicle ignition stays on for only 10-minutes and there is still noGPS or no cell signal, no count is determined. Thereafter, if theignition is turned on and no GPS or no cell signal is being received for15-minutes, a third count is determined and the beeper is activated asdescribed above. This beeping may continue every 15-minutes while thevehicle ignition stays on as long as the vehicle ignition stays on for16-minutes and still no GPS or no Cell signal is being received. Ifthereafter, the ignition is turned on and no GPS or no cell signal isbeing received, the beeper beeps once and again beeps once every15-minutes while vehicle ignition stays on. If in 10-minutes both GPS orcell signal is being received, the beeper system is turned off and thewarning count is reset.

[0218] By way of example, if the ignition key is turned on and no GPS orno cell signal is being received for only 5, 10 or 12 minutes (with thethreshold set at 15 minutes), then no count is determined.

[0219] In certain circumstances, the GPS signal may fail, but the cellsignal may still be working. Accordingly, it may be desirable to send anindication of the failure of the GPS signal to the central monitoringstation 30 to thereby alert the user as described above. If the cellsignal also failed, or if the cell signal failed by itself, in otherembodiments a separate paging device would transmit the failure or lossof the cell signal information to the central monitoring station 30, tothereby alert the user.

[0220] Yet another feature is directed to efficient use of a relativelysmall number of codes available to communicate with the tracking unitfrom the cellular network and central station. More particularly, atypical arrangement may provide eight basic codes and two “wildcard”codes. The two wildcard codes are reserved for future or other uses. Aparticular tracking device will respond directly to any of the eightbasic codes. For example, the doors could be locked or unlocked, apresent location downloaded from the vehicle, etc.

[0221] In accordance with this feature, the tracking device may responddifferently to the same code or command depending upon the state orcondition of the tracking device. For example, if an alarm is triggeredat the vehicle, it may be desired that the tracking device continue tosend the alarm signal until confirmation is received that the centralmonitoring station 30 has received the alarm signal. This confirmationcan be sent using the same code as may provide another function if thedevice were not indicating an alarm. Any of a number of such trackingdevice conditions may trigger a different message to be interpreted fromthe received code. For example, if any of the above Alerts A-E weretriggered, the receipt of a predetermined code, such as code eight,would confirm receipt of the alert by the central station, and thisreceipt of code eight would not cause the other response (no alarmtriggered) in the tracking device. Of course this concept can beextended to other features as will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art.

[0222] In accordance with another feature, the rate of sending thelocation or position data (or change in position data) from the vehiclemay be varied to reduce system usage and thereby reduce expenses. Moreparticularly, in one embodiment, the rate of sending may be based uponhow long the vehicle has remained stationary. This time period may beselected by the user. For example, the selected time may be in the rangeof 15 minutes to six hours. If the vehicle has been stationary for theselected time period, then the rate of transmission may be reduced. Thisreduces or eliminates the need to send home position data and send allthe over 15-minute stops made that day. Otherwise, that is when thevehicle is moving, the device may send data at a faster rate. Of course,a system user would not likely be interested in quick updates,especially where the position information is not changing. Conversely,if the vehicle is being moved, it may be desirable to receive morefrequent position updates.

[0223] Another variation of this transmission rate conservation feature,bases the rate of transmission on the vehicle position. For example, areduced rate of transmission may be selected if the vehicle is in apredetermined area where the user has a lesser interest in quicklyupdated position information. The user may also have a reduced interestin an area that can be defined outside of a predetermined distance froma reference point.

[0224] Yet another variation of the vehicle position transmission rateconservation feature is based upon the vehicle's speed, such as thevehicle's average or maximum speed, for example. Accordingly, if thevehicle is traveling above a preset speed, the rate of transmission maybe increased.

[0225] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the trackingdevice may send the alert indication a predetermined number of timeswithout receiving an acknowledgment as described above, and then waituntil the vehicle position has changed before trying again or the cellre-registers or its RSS (received signal strength) changes. Thus, poweris conserved. When the vehicle has moved to a new position, anyobstructions may no longer be present thereby increasing the likelihoodof a successful communication. In addition, the change in position maybe determined when the vehicle is sensed to be moving about apredetermined relatively small speed, such as greater than 1 mph, forexample.

[0226] In all of the embodiments and variations described herein, thetracking device may communicate with one or more other vehicle devicesvia a vehicle data communications bus. Further aspects of interfacingwith a vehicle data communications bus are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,719,551 and 6,011,460 assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention.

[0227] Yet another aspect relates to efficient use of available codes onthe cellular telephone control channel. In one particular example, tencodes may be available to be transmitted from the monitoring station 30to the vehicle trackers. The first eight or nine codes are command codesthat will cause a specific action by the tracking device at the vehicle.The other one or two codes may be wildcard codes as mentioned above,that may set a stand-by mode for one or a group of vehicles, forexample.

[0228] It may be desirable to provide more than eight commands at thevehicle responsive to the corresponding eight available codes. Forexample, it may be desirable to set a feature on or off, or to set adifferent feature setting or threshold. In accordance with this aspectof the invention, the commands at the tracker are determined based upona series of different command codes being received within apredetermined time window.

[0229] For example, the monitoring station 30 may send code 9 thatswitches the tracker in the car into a stand-by mode for a predeterminedtime and which causes the tracker to respond with an upstreamconfirmation code 7 or 9 indicating receiving code 9. During thepredetermined time of the stand-by mode another code follows that causesa system programmable feature or setting to change. Note that the secondcode would otherwise cause a different function at the vehicle. Notethat system might operate a function 9 if another code 1-9 is notreceived in the predetermined time. The following list is exemplary forfeatures resulting from second codes 1-9:

[0230] (1) Code 1—Tracker will turn off feature of upstream code causedby vehicle alert being detected.

[0231] (2) Code 2—Tracker will turn on feature of upstream code causedby vehicle alert being detected.

[0232] (3) Code 3—Tracker deactivates cell receiver from operating dueto a non-paying customer for monitoring service. That phone number canthen be allocated to another customer.

[0233] (4) Code 4—Turn on audio buzzer feature that will sound once each10 minutes. The monitoring station 30 need only send the command toactivate the feature, as the tracker will time the period and drive thebuzzer thereafter. The monitoring station 30 will normally not need tosend this command because the tracker will be configured out of the boxwith this feature activated to sound the buzzer every 10 minutes untilthe next command is received.

[0234] (5) Code 5—Turn off the audio buzzer. This is to be sent by themonitoring station 30 after a user has successfully activated hisaccount.

[0235] (6) Code 6—Turn on the 80 mph speed limit reporting. This willnormally not be sent as this feature will be the default setting of thetracker.

[0236] (7) Code 7—Turn off the 80 mph speed limit reporting.

[0237] (8) Code 8—Increase speed limit 5 mph and increase the time 5minutes.

[0238] (9) Code 9—Decrease speed limit 5 mph and decrease the time 5minutes, and wait 5 minutes if another code number follows. It couldoperate this way to allow another set of codes to change more features.

[0239] In this example, in response to the tracker receiving the systemcode 1-9, the tracker sends an upstream code 7 to acknowledge receipt ofthe system code 1-9. Upon receipt of code 9 the tracker waits up to 5minutes to determine if another system code is received. If no code isreceived, then the tracker performs the code 9 operation. Of course, inother embodiments other features or settings can be selected.

[0240] In general, it may be preferred that the first code sent in aseries of two codes, for example, be a code that causes only a minorfunction to be performed at the vehicle. This so because if the secondcode is sent from the monitoring station 30, but not received at thetracker, only a minor function is performed. For example, the first codemay switch between armed and disarmed modes. This is in contrast tousing a remote engine starting code or engine shutdown code as the firstcode. The vehicle may be moving or positioned in a marginal receptionarea, and the second command may not be received by the tracker withinthe predetermined time window. As will be appreciated by those skilledin the art, this concept of multiple digit codes, can be extended beyondtwo digits to three or more.

[0241] To further conserve cellular transmissions and as describedabove, the tracker may be set to record a position based upon adetermined event. Only this recorded position information may bedownloaded either by user request or at set times. It is desired thatsuch events be relatively few, but that the information still be helpfulto the user.

[0242] For example, an event for recording of position may be determinedbased upon the vehicle being stopped for greater than a first time andless than a second time. For example, the first time may be 15 minutesand the second time may be 6 hours. Determination of the vehicle beingstopped can be made based upon one or both of the GPS position or thevehicle ignition being turned off. The second time prevents therecording of position information when the vehicle is stopped at theowner's home during the evening, for example. Accordingly, the importantinformation of the vehicle stops being made is recorded and madeavailable to the user, while system communications resources areconserved.

[0243] In another example, if the mode is selected to send the vehicleslocation every 10 min and the vehicle is in the same location forgreater than a set time, then no more vehicle locations are sent untilthe vehicle location has changed to start the every 10 min reportingagain.

[0244] Turning now additionally to FIG. 10, operation of the vehicletracking unit 25 for providing direction deviation tracking will nowgenerally be described. More particularly, beginning at Block 100, whenthe vehicle tracking unit 25 is placed in an armed or tracking mode(Block 101) to provide constant tracking, the vehicle tracking unit maydetermine and send the vehicle position information at predeterminedintervals, for example, as described above. For example, the vehicletracking unit 25 may be placed in the armed mode when the vehicle 21 isstolen to allow the police and/or a user to maintain current vehicleposition information, such as by overlaying the vehicle positioninformation on a map using a mapping program.

[0245] Yet, one difficulty which may be encountered with prior arttracking approaches which transmit vehicle position information basedsolely upon a predetermined schedule is that it may take a relativelylong time for direction changes of the vehicle 21 to be determined. Thatis, if a car thief turned at a stop light shortly after vehicle positioninformation was sent, the change in direction would not be discovereduntil then next time vehicle position information was sent. If theintervals between sendings of vehicle position information arerelatively long, the police may pursue the vehicle 25 in the wrongdirection.

[0246] Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the controller 40may cooperate with the vehicle position determining device 42 todetermine vehicle position information based upon the vehicle 21changing a direction of travel by greater than a threshold, at Blocks102 and 103. This may preferably be done in addition to sending vehicleposition information at predetermined intervals, for example, as will bedescribed further below. Of course, in some embodiments the vehicleposition information may simply be determined and stored for laterretrieval by the user based upon the direction changes, for example, orthis may be done in addition to sending the vehicle position informationto the monitoring station 30.

[0247] The threshold may advantageously used to distinguish slightdeviations in direction (e.g., from small bends in the road) fromsignificant directional changes (e.g., turning at an intersection) whichwill actually be important to the police and/or user. By way of example,the threshold may be greater than about 45 degrees, although otherthresholds may also be used.

[0248] Thus, in addition to regularly updating the vehicle positioninformation at predetermined intervals, the police and/or user are alsoupdated when the vehicle 25 changes direction. That is, the controller40 may also cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 to sendthe vehicle position information to the monitoring station 30 based uponeach occurrence of the vehicle 21 changing the direction of travel bygreater than the threshold, at Block 104. It will be appreciated bythose of skill in the art that the vehicle position information mayinclude direction or heading information in some embodiments, althoughin other embodiments basic GPS coordinate information (i.e., latitudeand longitude coordinates) could be sent and the heading informationdetermined at the monitoring station 30.

[0249] Of course, in some embodiments the controller 40 mayadvantageously not send the vehicle position information to themonitoring station 30 unless the vehicle 25 changes the direction oftravel by greater than the threshold. That is, vehicle positioninformation will not be sent at predetermined intervals, but only whenthe direction of the vehicle 21 changes.

[0250] As a result, wireless communications charges (e.g., cellularphone charges) may be held to a minimum in those applications wherecontinuous vehicle position updates are not required. By way of example,when tracking trucks, busses, etc. traveling on interstates, it may onlybe necessary to know when and where drivers get off of the interstate.As such, a significant amount of cellular phone charges may be saved bynot continuously updating vehicle position information while suchvehicles are traveling along a known route, (i.e., an interstate).

[0251] Referring more particularly to FIG. 11, further details of thedirection deviation tracking operation according to the invention willnow be described. The controller 40 may determine the vehicle positioninformation based not only upon the vehicle 21 changing the direction oftravel by greater than the threshold (Block 102), but this determinationmay also optionally be based upon the vehicle then continuing in thechanged direction for greater than a predetermined period, at Block 110.By way of example, the predetermined period may be greater than aboutfive seconds and, more preferably, between about five and seven seconds,although other periods may also be used, as will be appreciated by thoseof skill in the art.

[0252] Similarly, the controller 40 may, in addition to determining thevehicle position information based upon the vehicle 21 changing thedirection of travel by greater than the threshold, also optionally basethis determination upon the vehicle then continuing in the changeddirection at greater than a predetermined speed, at Block 111.Preferably, the predetermined speed may be greater than about five milesper hour (MPH), but other speeds may also be used.

[0253] As a result of the steps illustrated at Blocks 110, 111, unwanteddownloading of vehicle position information may advantageously beavoided. For example, when a vehicle makes only a temporary change indirection, such as to stop briefly at a gas station or go aroundsomething in the road, the above conditions may be used to limit thedetermination of vehicle position information. Again, this may result infurther wireless communications charge savings.

[0254] In accordance with another advantageous aspect of the invention,the controller 40 may also determine a value of deviation in direction,at Block 112. For example, this value of deviation may be an angularspeed, such as in degrees per second. As such, the controller 40 mayadvantageously determine the vehicle position information based upon thevalue of deviation, at Block 103.

[0255] Thus, yet another option is provided for determining whether adirectional deviation is significant and requires vehicle positioninformation to be determined or not. For example, determining angularspeed may help discriminate between the vehicle 21 taking a curvedon-ramp to a highway and simply turning slowly into a gas station for abrief stop. Of course, those of skill in the art will appreciate thatany one or all of the steps illustrated at Blocks 110-112 may be used,or combinations thereof, to adjust the frequency with which the vehicleposition information may be determined and sent for differentapplications.

[0256] As noted above, the controller 40 may include the memory 52 whichmay store the vehicle position information therein (Block 113). Thecontroller 40 may download the vehicle position information from thememory 52 to the monitoring station 30 based upon at least one of apredetermined schedule, a predetermined event, and the memory reaching apredetermined capacity, as noted above, at Blocks 114 and 115.

[0257] Turning now additionally to FIG. 12, the multiple polarityoutputs 53, which were generally illustrated in FIG. 2, will now bedescribed in further detail. More particularly, the controller 40 mayinclude one or more pairs 53 a, 53 b of switchable polarity outputterminals which may be used for controlling various vehicle devices. Byway of example, such vehicle devices may include an actuator 121, suchas the door lock actuator 62 or a window actuator, for example, whichmay be used for performing at least one of door locking and unlockingfunctions or at least one of a roll up and a roll down function,respectively. In particular, the vehicle device may include one or morepairs of input terminals, each pair being connected to a respective pairof output terminals 53 a, 53 b. In certain embodiments the controller 40may advantageously include a learning mode in which it detectsrespective operating polarities of the input terminals of the vehicledevice, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.Accordingly, the controller 40 may switch the pair of output terminals53 a, 53 b based upon the detected operating polarities of the pair ofinput terminals. This learning mode may therefore save installersvaluable time which might otherwise be required to manually match thepolarities of the outputs 53 a, 53 b with vehicle device inputs.

[0258] The controller 30, and more particularly the CPU 50, may switchthe pair of switchable polarity output terminals 53 a, 53 b based upon acommand received by the remote transmitter 60 or by the wirelesscommunications device 44, for example. That is, the CPU 50 providesrespective activation signals to a first output stage 122 a of theoutput terminal 53 a and a second output stage 122 b of the outputterminal 53 b. In particular, the CPU 50 may provide the activationsignals substantially simultaneously, with the two activation signalshaving opposite polarities.

[0259] The CPU 50 may preferably activate the pair of output terminals53 a, 53 b for a predetermined period, such as a few seconds to roll awindow up or down, for example. On the other hand, the activationsignals need only be a few seconds in duration to allow the door lockactuator 62 to perform a door locking/unlocking function. Of course,those of skill in the art will appreciate that any predetermined periodmay be used in accordance with the present invention.

[0260] Upon applying the activation signals to the output stages 122 a,122 b, the activation signals are then passed to respective negative andpositive switches 123 a, 124 a, and 123 b, 124 b of the output terminals53 a, 53 b. Accordingly, only one of the switches 123 a, 124 a whichcorresponds in polarity to the activation signal applied to the outputterminal 53 a will provide an output. The same is also true with theswitches 123 b, 124 b.

[0261] Thus, for example, if positive and negative activation signalsare provided to the first and second output stages 122 a, 122 b, thepositive output switch 124 a will provide an output on a first outputconnector 125 a, and the negative output switch 123 b will provide anoutput on a second output connector 125 b. In the embodiment illustratedin FIG. 12, the window actuator 121 includes a first motor 126 a forrolling a window down, and a second motor 126 b for rolling the windowup, both of which are activated based upon the polarity of signalsprovided thereto. Of course, in some embodiments an actuator 121 with asingle motor could be used, as will be appreciated by those of skill inthe art.

[0262] Accordingly, using the above example, the first motor 126 a wouldreceive a negative polarity signal from the first output connector 125 aat its negative polarity terminal, and a positive polarity signal fromthe second output connector 125 b at its positive polarity terminal. Thefirst motor 126 a will therefore be actuated, and the window will berolled down. To the contrary, the second motor 126 b will receive thenegative polarity signal from the first output connector 125 a at itspositive polarity terminal and the positive polarity signal from thesecond output connector 125 b at its negative polarity terminal, and itwill therefore not be actuated.

[0263] Referring additionally to FIG. 13, an alternate configuration isillustratively shown in which the first and second motors 126 a′, 126 b′are connected to the positive terminal of the vehicle battery 61′ sothat they are both activated by a negative polarity signal. Aspreviously described above, if opposite polarity activation signals areprovided by the CPU 50 to the first and second output stages 122 a′, 122b′, then only one of the first and second output connectors 125 a′, 125b′ will provide a negative polarity signal at a time. Thus, only one orthe other of the first and second motors 126 a′, 126 b′ will be actuatedat a time. The case in which the first and second motors 126 a″ and 126b″ are connected to the battery 61″ to be actuated by positive polaritysignals is illustratively shown in FIG. 14.

[0264] A more detailed schematic diagram illustrating the pair of outputterminals 53 a, 53 b is shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 15. Theoutput stages 122 a and 122 b may each include a resistor, and theswitches 123 a, 124 a, 123 b, and 124 b may all be transistors (e.g.,bi-polar transistors). The output terminals may also include resistors150-153, and diodes 154-157, as illustratively shown. In the illustratedembodiment, a three-pin connector is used which includes the connectors125 a, 125 b, and an additional connector 125 c which may be used toprovide power, for example, as will be appreciated by those of skill inthe art. By way of example, the resistors 122 a, 122 b, 150, and 152 maybe 4.7 KΩ resistors, and the resistors 151, 153 may be 47 KΩ resistorsthough other values may also be used.

[0265] Accordingly, it will also be appreciated that the vehicletracking unit 25 of the present invention may advantageously requireless output terminal circuitry than in prior art vehicle tracking units,since a separate positive and negative terminal does not have to beprovided for each motor, etc. Further, installation of the vehicletracking unit 25 of the present invention may be simplified since theamount of wires that have to be connected to various vehicle devices isreduced.

[0266] Another advantageous aspect of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 16. Beginning atBlock 160, as noted above, the vehicle tracking unit 25 may periodicallydetermine (Block 161) and send (Block 162) vehicle position informationto the monitoring station 30. Again, this may be the case when thecontroller 40 is in the armed or tracking mode and such information hasbeen requested or a predetermined event has occurred, as describedabove. The controller 40 may detect whether a triggering event hasoccurred, at Block 163, and, if so, vary a period between successivesendings of vehicle position information based upon the triggering event(Block 164).

[0267] By using a triggering event to increase the period betweensuccessive sendings of the vehicle position information, wireless (e.g.,cellular) communications charges may advantageously be reduced bysending the vehicle position information less frequently. This may alsoresult in significantly less drain on the vehicle battery 61 and/orback-up battery 54. On the other hand, the period between successivesendings may also be decreased based upon a triggering event, which maybe particularly beneficial when police are tracking the vehicle 25 afterit has been stolen, for example.

[0268] Turning more particularly to FIG. 17, the step of determining thetriggering event (Block 163 in FIG. 16) will now be described in furtherdetail. By way of example, the triggering event may include a vehiclespeed exceeding a threshold (Block 163 a), receiving a period changesignal from the monitoring station 30 (Block 163 b), the passing of time(Block 163 c), and/or the memory 52 reaching a predetermined capacity(Block 163 d).

[0269] With respect to the passage of time, a message may be sent fromthe monitoring station 30 to the vehicle tracking unit to prompt thesending of vehicle position information, as previously described above.By way of example, the initial period between sendings of vehicleposition information may be about two minutes. After an hour, the periodbetween sendings may be decreased to every fifteen minutes, and aftersix hours the period decreased to every hour. Further, after twenty fourhours have passed, the controller 40 may then increase the periodbetween sendings to once a day. Of course, the above periods andtriggering events are merely exemplary, and others may be used as well,as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0270] It should be noted here that in some embodiments the visualindicator(s) 43 may advantageously cooperate with the vehicle positiondetermining device 42 (e.g., a GPS device) for indicating a number ofGPS satellites currently accessible. Similarly, the visual indicator(s)45 may cooperate with the wireless (e.g., cellular) telephonecommunications device 44 for indicating communications with a cellularbase station, for example.

[0271] Turning now additionally to FIGS. 18-20, another aspect of thepresent invention for using the vehicle tracking unit 25 to notify auser when the vehicle 21 has been removed from a predetermined area(i.e., a G.O. fence) will now be described. Beginning at Block 160, thecontroller 40 may store a user selected reference location 180, at Block161, and determine vehicle position information (Block 162) aspreviously described above. For example, the user selected referencelocation 180 may be stored in the memory 52 (FIG. 2).

[0272] The user selected reference location 180 may advantageously beset in several ways according to the present invention. For example, thevehicle tracking unit 25 may include one or more input devices 170 to bepositioned within the vehicle 21 for setting the user selected referencelocation 180. By way of example, the input device 170 may be a switch, akeyboard, a keypad, or other suitable input device known to thoseskilled in the art.

[0273] If a keyboard or keypad is used, for example, the user couldenter desired coordinates (e.g., in latitude and longitude) of the userselected reference location 180. The input device 170 may also cooperatewith the vehicle position determining device 42 and the controller 40 toset a current vehicle position as the user selected reference location.Accordingly, a user may advantageously set the user selected referencelocation 180 to correspond to any desired position of the vehicle 21simply by driving the vehicle to that position and using the inputdevice 170.

[0274] This may be particularly advantageous when the user allowssomeone to use the vehicle 21 within a limited area (e.g., as with valetparking), but wants to be notified if the vehicle 21 is removed fromthis area. In such situations, the user will not want to be notified ofany movement of the vehicle, as these may occur frequently if thevehicle 21 is moved around, such as in a valet parking lot. Thus, theuser may use the input device 170 to set the user selectable referencelocation 180 at the position where possession of the vehicle 21 istransferred, e.g., at the valet parking drop-off location. The user maythen advantageously only be notified if the vehicle moves beyond aradial threshold distance 181 from the user selectable referencelocation, if desired, as will be described further below.

[0275] The controller 40 may also set the user selected referencelocation 180 based upon one or more signals provided by the monitoringstation 30. For example, the controller 40 may also cooperate with thevehicle position determining device 42 to set a current vehicle positionas the user selected reference location 180 based upon the signal(s)provided by the monitoring station 30. In addition, the at least onesignal may simply include the user selected reference location 180.

[0276] As illustratively shown at Block 163, based upon the vehicleposition information determined as noted above with reference to Block162, the controller 40 determines whether the vehicle 21 has movedbeyond a radial threshold distance 181 from the user selected referencelocation 180. If this is the case, the controller 40 may then cause thevehicle position information to be sent to indicate to the user that thevehicle 21 has moved beyond the radial threshold distance 181.

[0277] In some embodiments, the vehicle position information may be senta threshold time after (Block 164) the vehicle 21 moves beyond theradial threshold distance 181 from the user selected reference location180 if the vehicle has not moved back within the radial thresholddistance. By so doing, a bounded area 182 defined by the user selectedreference location 180 and the radial threshold distance 181 may be madesmaller than with prior art approaches while still reducing unwantedfalse alarms. This feature may be particularly useful in the case of cardealerships, where vehicles may occasionally be driven beyond the radialthreshold distance 181 for test drives, but will return to thedealership (i.e., within the bounded area 182) within a short time.

[0278] In accordance with the invention, the input device 170 may alsopermit user setting of the threshold time, or this may be done by themonitoring station 30. The radial threshold distance 181 may also be setvia the input device 170 and/or the monitoring station 30. By way ofexample, the radial threshold distance 181 may be less than about fivemiles, and the threshold time may be less than about thirty minutes,although other values may also be used in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0279] Another particularly useful aspect of the present invention willnow be described with reference to FIG. 21. As noted above, the vehicle21 may include the vehicle alarm indicator 67, which may include one ormore of a vehicle horn, a vehicle siren, a vehicle parking light, avehicle headlight, a vehicle turning direction indicator, a vehiclehazard light, and a strobe light, for example. In accordance with thisaspect of the invention, beginning at Block 190, if a user is unable tofind the vehicle 21, such as when the vehicle is parked in a crowdedparking lot, the user (or monitoring station 30) may send a vehiclefinder activation signal to the vehicle tracking unit 25, as previouslydescribed above.

[0280] Similar to some prior art vehicle tracking systems, thecontroller 40 may then cause the vehicle alarm indicator 67 to providean alarm indication lasting for a predetermined time (e.g., about 60seconds or less), at Block 193, based upon the wireless communicationsdevice 44 receiving the vehicle finder activation signal. As such, thevehicle tracking unit 25 may therefore be used to provide an alarmindication when the vehicle security controller 28 is otherwise out ofrange for the uniquely coded remote transmitter 60.

[0281] Yet, one problem which may arise with prior art tracking systemsis that once the user locates the vehicle 21, there may still be asignificant amount of time left before alert indication ceases. This maybe particularly true where the predetermined time is set to berelatively large. Thus, if a user finds the vehicle 21 quickly, she mayhave to listen to the horn sounding for a relatively long period, orstart driving away with a strobe light flashing, for example.

[0282] In accordance with the present invention, the controller 40 mayalso determine not only whether the predetermined time has expiredbefore ceasing providing the alarm indication, but it may also determinewhether a user input has been received, at Block 194. Thus, thecontroller 40 may advantageously cause the vehicle alarm indicator 67 tocease providing the alarm indication, at Block 195, prior to expirationof the predetermined time based upon the user input.

[0283] As noted above, the controller 40 may be switchable between armedand disarmed modes, and the user input may include switching thecontroller from the armed mode to the disarmed mode. By way of example,this may be done based upon the ignition switch 65, the remotetransmitter 60, a signal received from the monitoring station 30, and/orthe security controller 28. Alternately, the controller 40 may switchthe alarm indication off based upon the ignition switch 65, etc.,irrespective of the current operating mode of the controller.

[0284] As discussed above with reference to FIG. SA, the controller 40may cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 to send analarm indication alert to the monitoring station 30 based upon at leastone vehicle sensor. More particularly, referring now to FIG. 22,beginning at Block 200 the controller 40 may determine if the vehiclesensor has been activated, for example, at Block 201. By way of example,the sensor may include at least one of the alarm indicator 67 (i.e.,vehicle horn, vehicle siren, etc.), a vehicle parking light, a vehicleheadlight, a vehicle turning direction indicator, a vehicle hazardlight, a vehicle door switch, and a vehicle dome light. Of course, othersensors may also be used as will be appreciated by those of skill in theart.

[0285] Once the alarm indication alert has been sent, at Block 202, thecontroller 203 may then determine whether a predetermined number ofalarm indication alerts have already been sent, at Block 203. If so, thecontroller 40 may stop the sending of further alarm indication alerts,at Block 204. By so doing, if the vehicle sensor has been falselyactivated (e.g., the alarm indicator 67 is repeatedly activated bythunder), the user need not receive numerous alarm indication alerts andmay save the wireless communications charges associated therewith. Byway of example, the predetermined number of alarm indication alerts maybe in a range of one to five, although other numbers may also be used.

[0286] Another flowchart illustrating yet further details in accordancewith this aspect of the present invention is shown in FIG. 23. Inaddition to the above described steps, after determining that thepredetermined number of alarm indication alerts have been sent, thecontroller 40 may then determine whether the predetermined numberthereof occurred within a predetermined time, at Block 210. If so, thecontroller 40 may stop sending further alarm indications until thecontroller is reset, at Block 211.

[0287] More particularly, the controller 40 may be switchable betweenarmed and disarmed modes, as discussed above, and the controller 40 maybe reset upon being switched between armed and disarmed modes. By way ofexample, the controller 40 may be switchable between armed and disarmedmodes based upon the ignition switch 65, based upon the vehicle sensorbeing controlled by the remote transmitter 60, and/or based upon asignal from the monitoring station 30. Of course, other suitable ways ofswitching the controller 40 between armed and disarmed modes may also beused, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

[0288] Referring now to FIGS. 24 and 25, according to another relatedaspect of the present invention, beginning at Block 240 the controller40 may cooperate with the vehicle position determining device 42 and thewireless communications device 44 to send an alert message to themonitoring station 30 based upon at least one vehicle sensor, at Blocks244, as discussed previously above. More particularly, the at least onevehicle sensor may include the ignition switch 65, the uniquely codedremote transmitter 60, or other suitable vehicle sensors noted above,for example, which may be used for switching the controller 40 betweenarmed and disarmed modes.

[0289] Thus, during normal operation, the controller 40 may cause thealert message to be sent when the vehicle tracking unit 25 (i.e., thecontroller 40) is in the active mode (e.g., the ignition switch 65 is inthe off position) and a triggering event occurs (e.g., the vehicle 21 ismoved), at Blocks 252-254. The normal operation is illustratively shownas concluding at Block 255 for clarity of illustration, but those ofskill in the art will appreciate that additional alert messages may besent in some embodiments. It should also be noted that in someembodiments the alert message may also be sent when the controller 40 isin the disarmed mode (as opposed to the armed mode).

[0290] By way of example, if the vehicle 21 was broken down on the sideof the road and the user had to leave the vehicle until a tow truckarrived, the user could accordingly place the controller 40 in the armedmode so he will be alerted if the vehicle is moved. Yet, the user wouldnot want to receive alert messages resulting from the tow truck movingthe vehicle 21, which may not only be an inconvenience but may alsoresult in significant wireless (e.g., cellular) communications chargesfor the user.

[0291] In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the vehicletracking unit 25 (i.e., controller 40) may also be switchable to anoverride mode, at Block 242, to prevent sending of the alert message, asillustratively shown by the conclusion step at Block 245, based uponreceiving an alert override message from the monitoring station 30. Thisswitching may be performed irrespective of whether the controller 40 isin the armed mode or the disarmed mode. Using the above example, theuser may therefore cause the controller 40 to be switched to theoverride mode once the tow truck has picked up the vehicle 21 so that hewill no longer receive the alert indication.

[0292] Of course, the override mode may be disengaged, at Block 256,once the user wants to start receiving alert messages again. By way ofexample, the controller 40 may disengage the override mode based uponthe vehicle ignition switch 65 being switched between on and offpositions, and more particularly from the off to the on position (i.e.,the next time the user starts the vehicle 21). Additionally, an overridedisengage message may also be sent from the monitoring station 30 to thevehicle tracking unit 25, and the controller 40 may cooperate with thewireless communications device 44 to receive the override disengagemessage and disengage the override mode based thereon.

[0293] Also, the controller 40 may disengage the override mode basedupon an operable vehicle device being controlled by the remotetransmitter 60, as discussed previously above. Again, the operablevehicle device may include at least one of a vehicle alarm device (e.g.,the security controller 28), a keyless entry device and/or the door lockactuator 62, the engine starter interrupt device 66, and the remotestarter device 63, for example. If the override mode is not disengaged,no further alert messages may be sent (Block 257), but if it is thennormal operation may resume as described above.

[0294] As previously noted, the monitoring station 30 may include a userinterface for accepting at least one command from a user and sending atleast one alert to the user, such as the Internet interface 34 and/orthe telephone network interface 33, for example (FIG. 3). Of course, insome embodiments the monitoring station 30 may also be a user'scomputer, telephone, personal data assistant (PDA), or other suitabledevice which may send/receive signals directly to/from the vehicletracking unit 25 via a wireless communications network, for example.

[0295] Referring now to FIGS. 26-28, in accordance with yet anotheraspect of the present invention the vehicle tracking unit 25 may furtherinclude a security device detection circuit 260 for at least one vehiclesecurity device, such as the alarm indicator 67, for example. Asillustrative shown, the security device detection circuit 260 may beconnected to the controller 40, and the controller may cooperate withthe wireless communications device 44 and the security device detectioncircuit for sending security signals to the monitoring station 30 basedupon the security device detection circuit, at Block 271.

[0296] By way of example, the controller 40 may cause the securitysignals to be sent to the monitoring station 30 based upon the securitydevice detection circuit 260 detecting that the alarm indicator 67 hasbeen activated. It should be noted that although the security devicedetection circuit 260 is illustratively shown as being separate from thecontroller 40 in FIG. 26, this circuitry may well be included within thecontroller in some embodiments, or even implemented in software to berun on the CPU 50, for example, as will be appreciated by those of skillin the art.

[0297] As previously noted above, the vehicle tracking unit 25 inaccordance with the present invention may advantageously receive one ormore command signals (Block 272) (e.g., from the remote transmitter 60and/or the monitoring station 30) and perform corresponding vehiclefunctions based thereon. For example, the command signals may includecar find command signals for causing the vehicle security controller 28to activate the alarm indicator 67 and/or remote start command signalsfor causing the remote start device 63 to start the vehicle 21.

[0298] Yet, one problem which may be encountered when the controller 40causes such functions to be implemented is that by causing the alarmindicator 67 to be turned on so that the user can locate the vehicle 21,the security device detection circuit 260 will detect the activationthereof. Thus, the controller 40 will be prompted to send a securitysignal to the user, even though the user was the one who sent the carfind command signal. The same may also be the case with a remote startcommand signal, which may otherwise cause the security controller 28 todetermine that the vehicle 21 is being stolen and trigger the alarmindicator 67.

[0299] As such, in accordance with this aspect of the present invention,the controller 40 may perform the at least one predetermined vehiclefunction while bypassing sending the security signals, i.e., bypassingthe security device detection circuit 260, at Block 273. Once thefunction has been performed, at Block 274, then the normal sending ofsecurity signals may resume. Accordingly, even though performing the atleast one vehicle function may otherwise activate the alarm indicator67, for example, the vehicle tracking unit 25 may advantageously avoidsending unwanted security signals to the user, which may result in asignificant savings in wireless communications costs.

[0300] Once again, the controller 40 may be switchable between armed anddisarmed modes, and the controller may perform the at least onepredetermined vehicle function based upon receiving the correspondingcommand signal via the wireless communications device while in the armedmode, at Block 280. The controller 40 may also cease bypassing thesecurity device detection circuit 260 based upon a predetermined input,or after a predetermined period, at Block 281. More particularly, thepredetermined period could be measured from the time when thecorresponding command signal is received, or from the time thecorresponding vehicle function is completed, for example.

[0301] By way of example, the predetermined input may include switchingthe ignition switch 65 between on and off positions, or a deactivationof the at least one security device (i.e., the alarm indicator 67). Useof the predetermined period may be particularly advantageous in the caseof remote starting the vehicle 21, in which case the function ofstarting the vehicle may last a relatively short time but the alarmindicator 67, if activated, could continue to provide an alert for muchlonger. Accordingly, the predetermined period could be set to beslightly longer than the time which the security controller 28 isprogrammed to activate the alarm indicator 67.

[0302] Turning now additionally to FIGS. 29-31, another aspect of theinvention for a battery power saving mode will now be described. By wayof example, the power saving mode may be particularly applicable whenthe vehicle tracking unit 25 is switched to the armed mode based uponthe ignition switch 65 being switched off, as previously discussedabove.

[0303] As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the wirelesscommunications device 44 may include a receiver 291, and a transmitter292 for communicating with the monitoring station 30. As noted above,the vehicle tracking unit 25 may include the security device detectioncircuit 260, and it may also include a battery sensing circuit 290 forsensing a voltage of at least one of the back-up battery 54 and thevehicle battery 61.

[0304] Beginning at Block 300, the controller 40 may cooperate with thebattery sensing circuit 290 to determine whether a voltage of thebattery supplying power to the vehicle tracing unit 25 (which could beeither the vehicle battery 61 or the back-up battery 54, for example)has fallen below a threshold, at Block 301. In the case of the vehiclebattery 61, the threshold may advantageously be set to a voltage levelrequired to start the vehicle (e.g., greater than about 11.5 Volts). Forthe back-up battery 54, the threshold may correspond to a voltage levelsufficient to allow the transmitter 292 to continue sending securityand/or position signals.

[0305] If the sensed battery voltage is below the threshold, thecontroller 40 may then disable operation of the receiver 291, at Block303. In some embodiments, the controller 40 may wait a predeterminedperiod before disabling the operation of the receiver 291. Thecontroller 40 may preferably enable operation of the transmitter 292irrespective of the sensed battery voltage (i.e., even when the sensedvoltage falls below the threshold), at Block 304, thus concluding thepower saving mode (Block 305).

[0306] As such, the controller 40 may advantageously allow the receiver291, which may consume a significant amount of battery power, to remainon as long as possible while preserving enough battery power to allowthe vehicle 21 to be started (i.e., when the vehicle battery 61 issupplying power) and/or to allow other components of the vehicletracking unit 25 to function properly. Accordingly, the controller 40may still cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 to sendsecurity and/or position signals to the monitoring station 30.

[0307] In particular, the controller 40 may enable operation of thereceiver 291 based upon the sensed battery voltage being above thethreshold for a predetermined duration, at Block 312. Accordingly, ifthe sensed voltage only momentarily falls below the threshold, thereceiver 291 will not unnecessarily be disabled and incoming signalspotentially missed. To this end, the receiver 291 when enabled mayoperate substantially continuously, and the transmitter 292 when enabledmay operate substantially intermittently based upon the security devicedetector circuit 260 to send security signals, as previously discussedabove.

[0308] To provide even further power savings, the controller 40 may alsoenable operation of the vehicle position determining device 42 basedupon the sensed battery voltage being above the threshold, at Block 313,and disable operation of the vehicle position determining device 42based upon the sensed battery voltage being below the threshold, atBlock 310. Again, the controller 40 may enable operation of the vehicleposition determining device based upon the sensed battery voltage beingabove the threshold for the predetermined duration (Block 312).

[0309] Of course, those of skill in the art will appreciate that while asingle duration has been illustrative shown in FIG. 31 for clarity ofillustration, separate durations (or even separate voltage thresholds)could be used for enabling the receiver 291 and the vehicle positiondetermining device 42. Moreover, if the vehicle tracking unit 25includes additional components (e.g., an upgrade device, as will bediscussed further below), such components may also be similarly disabledto further conserve power, as will be appreciated by those of skill inthe art. It should be noted that the controller 40 may alsoadvantageously cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 insome embodiments to send a low power message to the monitoring station30 based upon the sensed battery voltage being below the threshold, atBlock 311. Here again, the controller 40 may delay a predetermined timebefore so doing in some embodiments.

[0310] Referring now to FIGS. 32 and 33, the vehicle tracking unit 25may also include a housing 320 for carrying the various componentsthereof (i.e., the vehicle position determining device 42, the wirelesscommunications device 44, the controller 40, etc.). Additionally, anupgrade connector 321 may be carried by the housing 320 and coupled tothe controller 40. As such, in accordance with another advantageousaspect of the invention, an upgrade device 322 may be removably coupledto the upgrade connector 321, as illustratively shown in FIG. 32, forcausing the controller 40 to perform at least one vehicle function.

[0311] More particularly, the vehicle tracking unit 25 may furtherinclude one or more remote transmitters 60 to be carried by a user, andthe upgrade device 322 may include a receiver 330 for causing thecontroller 40 to perform the at least one vehicle function based uponsignals from the remote transmitter. The remote transmitter 60 maygenerate pseudorandomly coded signals, for example, to provide enhancedsecurity, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

[0312] Numerous vehicle functions may be performed based upon the typeof upgrade device 322 that is used. By way of example, such vehiclefunctions may include either locking or unlocking vehicle doors via thedoor lock actuator 62, remote starting the vehicle's engine via theremote start device 63, and/or activating the alarm indicator 67. Othervehicle functions may also be performed, as will be appreciated by thoseof skill in the art. Moreover, a given upgrade device 322 may provideone or more of such functions. Accordingly, a user may install thevehicle tracking unit 25 and at a later time relatively easily upgradethe vehicle tracking unit to provide such additional functionality.Furthermore, the upgrade device 322 may utilize some of the controlcircuitry already provided in the controller 40, so both space and costsavings may potentially be realized.

[0313] The upgrade device 322 may be powered by the vehicle battery 61via the upgrade connector 321. More particularly, the vehicle trackingunit 25 may further include a voltage regulator 331 carried by thehousing 320 and coupled to the vehicle battery 61, and the upgradedevice 322 may be powered by the voltage regulator via the upgradeconnector 321. More particularly, the voltage regulator 331 may providea voltage to the upgrade device 322 that is lower than a voltage of thevehicle battery 61.

[0314] By way of example, the vehicle battery 61 may provide abouttwelve Volts, while the upgrade device 322 may preferably operate offabout five Volts. Of course, other voltages may also be used. Further,the back-up battery 54 may also be carried by the housing 320, asillustratively shown in FIG. 33, and the upgrade device 322 may beselectively powered by the back-up battery 54 via the upgrade connector321.

[0315] A serial communications link 332 may be used to connect thecontroller 40 and the upgrade device 322 via the upgrade connector 321.In some embodiments, the upgrade device 322 may also include one or moreconnectors 323 to be connected to at least one vehicle device. Thus,instead of controlling the various vehicle devices via the controller40, the upgrade device may directly control vehicle devices via theconnector 323.

[0316] By way of example, for an alarm/keyless entry upgrade deviceembodiment, connectors 323 may be included for a valet switch, an LEDlight (or lights), shock sensors, door and hood trigger wires, and forflashing vehicle lights, as will be appreciated by those of skill in theart. In another embodiment for a remote start upgrade device, connectors323 may be included for the car starter relays to be connected thereto,for example. Of course, other connector types known to those of skill inthe art may also be used.

[0317] Another advantageous aspect of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 34 and 35. As noted above, thecontroller 40 may cooperate with the vehicle position determining device42 and the wireless communications device 44 to send vehicle positioninformation to the monitoring station 30 based upon receiving anactivation signal via a communications network.

[0318] In accordance with this aspect of the invention, beginning atBlock 340 the controller 40 may selectively cause the vehicle trackingunit 25 to be in a low power mode, at Block 341, to conserve power, asdiscussed previously above. The controller 40 may also cooperate withthe wireless communications device 44 to intermittently awaken thevehicle tracking unit 25 from the low power mode to poll thecommunications network (Block 342) to thereby determine whether theactivation signal has been directed to the vehicle tracking unit, atBlock 343. The polling may advantageously be relatively short (e.g.,less than a minute) to reduce both power consumption and wirelesscommunications charges.

[0319] The vehicle position information may then be sent to themonitoring station 30 one or more times, at Block 344, as previouslydescribed above, concluding this aspect (Block 345). As such, themonitoring station 30 need not be synchronized with the vehicle trackingunit 25 because the user does not have to send the activation during abrief window when the unit is active, as is the case with some prior artvehicle tracking units.

[0320] In particular, the controller 40 may selectively cause thevehicle tracking unit 25 to be in the low power mode based upon thevehicle's engine being off. Moreover, the controller 40 may detect theengine being off based upon the vehicle ignition switch 65 beingswitched to an off position. Also, the controller 40 may selectivelycause the vehicle tracking unit 25 to be in the low power moderesponsive to the passage of a predetermined time since the engine wasturned off, and/or responsive to a voltage of the vehicle battery 61dropping below a threshold.

[0321] The communications network may be a cellular communicationsnetwork, for example. The cellular communications network may storeindications of missed calls, and the activation signal may be stored asat least one missed call by the cellular communications network, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. Alternately, the cellularcommunications network may store voice mail messages, and the activationsignal may be stored as a voice mail message by the cellularcommunications network. Further, the cellular communications network maytransmit data packets and/or voice data, as will also be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

[0322] The controller 40 may also cooperate with the wirelesscommunications device 44 for determining when the communications networkis out of range, at Block 350, and for determining when thecommunications network is back in range after being out of range, atBlock 351. The communications network may then be polled as discussedabove when back in range of the vehicle tracking unit 25 to determinewhether the activation signal has been directed to the vehicle trackingunit while the communications network was out of range. Thus, bothmissed activation signals sent while the vehicle tracking unit 25 is inthe low power mode and/or out of range may still be received. It shouldbe noted that either one or both of these options may be used in variousembodiments.

[0323] The communications network may also provide a notification to themonitoring station 30 upon being polled by the wireless communicationsdevice, at Block 352. The controller 40 may also wait a predeterminedtime after receiving the activation signal before selectively causingthe vehicle tracking unit 25 to return to the low power mode. Forexample, the predetermined time may be on the order of a few minutes. Inaddition, the wireless communications device may include a receiver 291,as noted above, and the controller 40 may cause the receiver to beturned off when the vehicle tracking unit 25 is in the low power mode.Intervals of awakening the vehicle tracking unit 25 from the low powermode may be in a range of about 12 to 48 hours, for example, thoughother intervals may also be used.

[0324] In an alternate embodiment of the invention illustratively shownin FIG. 36, the vehicle 21 may include a vehicle data bus 360 extendingthroughout the vehicle and which is connected to one or more operablevehicle devices. As illustratively shown, such operable vehicle devicesmay include the vehicle alarm indicator 67 (e.g., horn, siren, etc.), akeyless entry device, the engine starter interrupt device 66, the remotestart device 63, the door lock actuator 62, and the vehicle securitycontroller 28, although others may also be included as will beappreciated by those of skill in the art. Furthermore, other devices tobe monitored, such as the ignition switch 65, may also be connected tothe vehicle data bus 360, for example.

[0325] Furthermore, one or more of the operable vehicle devices may beresponsive to at least one data bus code received on the vehicle databus 360. More particularly, each of the above listed operable vehicledevices may have one or more unique data bus codes assigned theretowhich, when received, cause a respective operable vehicle device toperform a particular function, as will be understood by those skilled inthe art.

[0326] As such, a method according to the present invention isillustratively shown in FIG. 37 in which, beginning at Block 370, thecontroller 40 generates at least one data bus code on the vehicle databus 360 to control at least one operable vehicle device based upon acommand signal received by the wireless communications device 44, atBlocks 371 and 372. Accordingly, the user may not only use the vehicletracking unit 25 to control numerous vehicle devices, but separateconnections between such devices and the controller 40 need not be made.Instead, each of the operable vehicle devices may conveniently beconnected to the vehicle data bus 360, which may make the installationthereof easier.

[0327] In some embodiments, the command signal received by the wirelesscommunications device 44 may include the at least one data bus code.Alternately, the command signal may relate to the at least one data buscode, and the controller 40 may process the command signal to generatethe at least one data bus code on the vehicle data bus 360, as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art.

[0328] Further, the command signal may be provided by the monitoringstation 30, and the controller 40 may optionally cooperate with thewireless communications device 44 to send a response message to themonitoring station based upon receiving the command signal, at Block373, thus ending the method (Block 374). By way of example, the wirelesscommunications device 44 may receive the vehicle data bus device codevia a wireless pager network, although other suitable communicationsformats may also be used.

[0329] Another advantageous aspect of the invention if for a vehiclecontrol system including the vehicle tracking unit 25 and a functioncontroller, which may cooperate to alert a user that uniquely codedtransmitters have been learned by the vehicle function unit, will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 38 and 39. By way of example, thefunction unit may be the vehicle security system 27, and the functionsperformed thereby may include security and/or door locking/unlockingfunctions, as previously described above.

[0330] Of course, in some embodiments the function unit may be the doorlock actuator 62 itself responsive to a remote transmitter 60 forperforming door lock/unlock functions. Another example of a functionunit is the remote start device 63 for starting the vehicle's engine,also described above. Of course, other function units may also be used,as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. It should be notedthat while the various function units noted above are illustrativelyshown as being separate devices from the vehicle tracking unit 25, insome embodiments these units may be included within a single device, aswill be understood by those of skill in the art. In particular, asdescribed above, a remote start device and/or security controller may beembodied in an upgrade device 322 to be connected or plugged into theupgrade connector 321, for example.

[0331] Using the example of the vehicle security system 27 as thefunction unit, as illustratively shown in FIG. 36, the function unit mayinclude one (or more) uniquely coded transmitter 60 to be carried by auser, and a receiver 29 at the vehicle 21 for receiving signals from theuniquely coded transmitter, at Blocks 380-381. The function unit 27 mayalso include a function controller (the vehicle security controller 28in the present example) at the vehicle 21 and connected to the receiver29. The function controller 28 cooperates with the receiver 29 to learnthe uniquely coded transmitter 60 to permit control of one or morevehicle functions (here, security and/or door locking/unlockingfunctions) by the user, at Block 382.

[0332] In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the functioncontroller 28 may advantageously cooperate with the wirelesscommunications device 44 of the vehicle tracking unit 25 for sending analert indication of whether one or more new uniquely coded transmittershave been learned, at Block 383, thus concluding the method (Block 384).Accordingly, if the uniquely coded transmitter 60 learned by thefunction controller 28 is an unauthorized transmitter, such as one awould-be thief may use to attempt to gain access to the vehicle 21, theuser will advantageously be notified of this fact and may alert theproper authorities.

[0333] The vehicle control system may further include a local indicator(a vehicle security system indicator 361 in the illustrated example ofFIG. 36) connected to the function controller 28 for providing a localindication of whether one or more uniquely coded transmitters 60 havebeen learned. Thus, if the user for some reason does not receive thealert indication to this effect, he will still be notified of this factupon returning to the vehicle 21.

[0334] In addition, the function controller 28 may be switchable to alearning mode to permit learning of the at least one uniquely codedtransmitter, at Block 390, and the function controller may cooperatewith the wireless communications device 44 for sending the alertindication when the learning mode has been entered, for example, as maybe seen in FIG. 39. Moreover, the function controller 28 may cooperatewith the wireless communications device 44 for sending the alertindication when the learning mode has last been entered.

[0335] Additionally, the function controller 28 may cooperate with thewireless communications device 44 for sending the alert indication for apassage of time since the learning mode has last been entered, at Block391. Similarly, the function controller 28 may cooperate with thewireless communications device 44 for sending the alert indication for anumber of learned uniquely coded transmitters, as well as for sendingthe alert indication for a change in a number of learned uniquely codedtransmitters 60, and/or for sending the alert indication for a change ina code of at least one learned uniquely coded transmitter. The uniquelycoded transmitter(s) 60 may be at least one of a uniquely coded remotetransmitter and a uniquely coded transponder transmitter, for example,as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0336] In accordance with a similar aspect of the invention, thefunction unit 28 may instead of, or in addition to, the uniquely codedtransmitter 60 also include a biometric characteristic sensor 362 forsensing a unique biometric characteristic of a user, at Block 401. Inthis embodiment, the function controller 28 may similarly learn theunique biometric characteristic, at Block 402, to permit control of avehicle function by the user.

[0337] Again, the function controller 28 may cooperate with the wirelesscommunications device 44 for sending (Block 403) an alert indication ofwhether at least one new unique biometric characteristic has beenlearned, thus concluding the method (Block 404). Of course, the learningmode, time-delayed sending, and location indication steps describedabove may similarly be performed with respect to learning biometriccharacteristics, as illustratively shown at Blocks 410-412,respectively.

[0338] Turning now to FIGS. 42 and 43, another advantageous aspect ofthe invention for determining fault conditions of the vehicle trackingunit 25 will now be described. More particularly, beginning at Block420, the controller 40 may monitor operation of the vehicle 21 anddetermine a fault condition of at least one of the vehicle positiondetermining device 42 and the wireless communications device 44 basedupon a failure thereof over a predetermined pattern of vehicleoperation, at Blocks 422-423. By way of example, the fault condition maybe based upon a received signal strength, although other faults may alsobe indicated.

[0339] Moreover, the controller 40 may also store the fault condition,at Block 424, and permit retrieval of the stored fault condition, atBlock 425, thus concluding the fault sensing operation (Block 426). Inparticular, the controller 40 may monitor the operation of the vehicle21 by monitoring the vehicle's ignition (e.g., via the ignition switch65), for example, to determine whether the ignition has been operationalfor greater than a time threshold (e.g., fifteen minutes), at Block 430.Thus, occurrences of determining momentary operational errors (e.g.,failure of the wireless communications device 44 to communicate with acommunications network due to interference) as significant faultconditions may be reduced.

[0340] The predetermined pattern of vehicle operation may include aseries of successive operations of the ignition. That is, apredetermined number of faults (e.g., two) will need to occur, at Block428, before the local fault indication is provided (Block 431). Hereagain, this also helps to increase the likelihood that only a true faultcondition will result in a fault indication being provided.

[0341] Further, if, at any time after the fault condition has beendetermined but before the fault indication is provided, the faultcondition is corrected (e.g., the wireless communications device 44comes back in range of a communications network after being out of rangefor an extended period), at Block 427, the controller 40 may determinethat the device in question is in fact working. In such event, the faultcount may be reset, at Block 429, and the fault monitoring process maybegin again.

[0342] The controller 40 may permit user retrieval of the stored faultcondition based upon selective operation of the ignition switch and/orremotely by the monitoring station 30 upon request. Regarding theformer, an indicator 363 (FIG. 36) may also be connected to thecontroller 40 to provide a local fault indication based upon retrievalof the stored fault condition. By way of example, the indicator 363 mayinclude at least one of an audible and a visual indicator, such as atone generator or an LED. Of course, one or more of the other indicatorsnoted above may also be used for this purpose.

[0343] It should be noted that the controller 40 may determine and storefault conditions of one or both the vehicle position determining device42 and the wireless communications device 44 in various embodiments.Similarly, the local fault indication may correspond to either thevehicle position determining device 42, the wireless communicationsdevice 44, or both.

[0344] In accordance with another aspect of the invention described nowwith reference to FIGS. 44 and 45, beginning at Block 440 the controller40 may also monitor the vehicle alarm indicator 67 to determinetriggering thereof, at Block 441, and monitor at least one power supplyto determine a change therein, at Block 442. More particularly, the atleast one power supply may be the vehicle battery 61 or the back-upbattery 54. By way of example, the controller may monitor the vehiclebattery 61/back-up battery 54 via the battery sensing circuit 290 (FIG.29), which may be connected to one or both of these batteries. Further,the controller 40 in cooperation with the wireless communications device44 may cause at least one alert to be sent to the monitoring station 30based upon both triggering of the vehicle alarm indicator 67 and achange in the at least one power supply, at Block 443, to concludenotification to the user (Block 444).

[0345] More particularly, the at least one alert may include a firstalert (Block 451) based upon the alarm indicator 67 being triggered, anda second alert (Block 452) based upon the voltage of the at least onepower supply (e.g., the vehicle battery 61) being below a threshold, asillustratively shown in FIG. 45. By way of example, the threshold may beless than about 4 Volts, although other thresholds may also be used. Tothis end, the vehicle tracking unit 25 in such embodiments willpreferably include the back-up battery 54 for providing back-up power tothe controller 40 and the wireless communications device 44 upon such adrop in voltage of the vehicle battery 61.

[0346] Accordingly, the vehicle tracking unit 25 of the presentinvention will advantageously send the second alert even if the firstalert is not sent. For example, in some embodiments the controller 40may monitor the vehicle alarm indicator 67 to determine triggeringthereof continuously for greater than a predetermined time (e.g., a fewseconds), at Block 450, before sending the first alert, at Block 451.This may be done to allow a user time to deactivate an errantlygenerated alarm condition before the first alert is sent and wirelesscommunications charges unnecessarily incurred.

[0347] Yet, because of this delay period, a would-be thief couldpotentially cut the battery cable quickly enough to prevent the firstalert from ever being sent. Nonetheless, by so doing, in accordance withthe present invention the second alert will still be sent, and the userwill therefore still be notified of the attempted theft of the vehicle21. It should be noted that the controller 40 may also monitor thevehicle alarm indicator 67 to determine triggering in a repetitivepattern (Block 450), either in addition to or instead of monitoring forcontinuous triggering for a predetermined time, before sending the firstalert. Further, instead of monitoring the vehicle battery 61 for a dropin voltage provided thereby to determine that the battery cables havebeen cut, this could also be done based upon detecting a sudden powerdrain on the back-up battery 54, which would also provide an indicationthat the cables to the vehicle battery had be severed.

[0348] Turning now to FIGS. 46 and 47, an additional aspect of theinvention will now be described for performing diagnostics of outputdriver circuits (i.e., the outputs 53 described above) for variousvehicle devices and, correspondingly, whether the CPU 50 is providingcorrect output signals thereto. In accordance with this aspect of theinvention, beginning at Block 461 the controller 40 may be switchable toa diagnostic mode, at Block 461, wherein at least one output drivercircuit 53 is tested, at Block 462. Results of the testing may beindicated by one or more local diagnostic indicators, at Block 463, suchas the previously noted indicators 363, 43, 45, for example, concludingthe diagnostic operations (Block 464).

[0349] More particularly, the input device 170 (e.g., a switch) and/or adiagnostic signal received from the monitoring station 30 via thecontroller 40 and the wireless communications device 44 may be used forswitching the controller to the diagnostic mode, at Block 470. In someembodiments, the controller 40 when in the diagnostic mode may determinewhether each driver circuit 53 is connected to respective vehicledevices, at Block 471, to define one or more respective connected outputdriver circuits 53. Thus, the controller 40, when in the diagnosticmode, may advantageously test only the output driver circuit or circuits53 which are connected, if desired. Of course, this need not be thecase, and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theoutput driver circuits 53 may advantageously be tested without beingconnected, so that the vehicle tracking unit 25 of the present inventioncan be tested prior to installation, for example.

[0350] By way of example, the controller 40 when in the diagnostic modemay sequentially test a plurality (or all) of the output driver circuits53 (Block 472). Thus, by knowing which output driver circuits 53 will betested in the diagnostic mode (e.g., which ones are connected to vehicledevices), the user may relatively easily determine which of the outputdriver circuits, if any, are not functioning correctly when acorresponding indication is not provided in the sequence of indications,as will be understood by those of skill in the art.

[0351] As illustratively shown in FIGS. 46 and 47, the controller 40 maycooperate with the diagnostic indicator(s) 363, for example, so that itis only operable when the controller is in the diagnostic mode. Thisfeature may be particularly beneficial when an output driver circuit 53is connected to a particular vehicle device, as the local diagnosticindicator 363 may otherwise provide an unwanted indication each time thevehicle device is activated during normal use, as will be appreciated bythose of skill in the art.

[0352] As noted above, the local diagnostic indicator 363 may include anaudible indicator and/or a visual indicator. In some embodiments, arespective diagnostic indicator 363 may be included for each outputdriver circuit 53, although this is not required. The controller 40 mayalso cooperate with the wireless communications device 44 to send testresult indications to the monitoring station 30, at Block 473. As such,the user and/or a monitoring service may remotely determine whether thevehicle tracking unit 25 is functioning correctly.

[0353] Other features relating to vehicle tracking units and systems aredisclosed in co-pending patent applications entitled VEHICLE TRACKERCONSERVING CODES AND RELATED METHODS, application Ser. No. 09/859,673;VEHICLE TRACKER WITH POWER SAVING FEATURES AND RELATED METHODS,application Ser. No. 09/859,728; VEHICLE TRACKER COOPERATING WITH ASTARTER INTERRUPT AND RELATED METHODS, application Ser. No. 09/859,973;VEHICLE TRACKER WITH USER NOTIFICATIONS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS,application Ser. No. 09/859,733; VEHICLE TRACKER WITH USER REGISTRATIONREMINDER AND RELATED METHODS, application Ser. No. 09/859,971; VEHICLETRACKER INCLUDING INPUT/OUTPUT FEATURES AND RELATED METHODS, applicationSer. No. 09/859,972; and VEHICLE TRACKER WITH TEST FEATURES AND RELATEDMETHODS, application Ser. No. 09/859,729; VEHICLE TRACKING UNITPROVIDING DIRECTION DEVIATION TRACKING AND RELATED METHODS, attorneydocket no. 58113; VEHICLE TRACKER HAVING SWITCAHABLE POLARITY OUTPUTTERMINALS AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58114; VEHICLETRACKING OUT PROVIDING VARIABLE FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION AND RELATEDMETHODS, attorney docket no. 58115; VEHICLE TRACKER HAVING FIND ALERTFEATURES AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58116; VEHICLE TRACKERPROVIDING VEHICLE ALARM ALERT FEATURES AND RELATED METHODS, attorneydocket no. 58117; VEHICLE TRACKER INCLUDING SECURITY DEVICE MONITORINGBYPASS FEATURE AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58119; VEHICLETRACKER INCLUDING BATTERY MONITORING FEATURE AND RELATED METHODS,attorney docket no. 58120; VEHICLE TRACKER INCLUDING A CONNECTOR FOR ANUPGRADE DEVICE AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58125; VEHICLETRACKER INCLUDING MISSED CALL FEATURE AND RELATED METHODS, attorneydocket no. 58126; VEHICLE TRACKING UNIT FOR CONTROLING OPERABLE VEHICLEDEVICES USING A VEHICLE DATA BUS AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docketno. 58127; VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE FUNCTIONINCLUDING A VEHICLE TRACKING UNIT AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docketno. 58135; VEHICLE TRACKING UNIT WITH FAULT CONDITION DIAGNOSIS ANDRELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58138; VEHICLE TRACKING UNITPROVIDING THEFT ALERT NOTIFICATIONS AND RELATED METHODS, attorney docketno. 58139; VEHICLE TRACKING UNIT HAVING A SELF DIAGNOSTIC MODE ANDRELATED METHODS, attorney docket no. 58140; and VEHICLE TRACKERINCLUDING VARIABLE FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION AND RELATED METHODS, attorneydocket no. 58141, the entire disclosures of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

[0354] Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention willcome to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to belimited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modificationsand embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of theappended claims.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle tracking system for a vehicle ofa type comprising at least one vehicle sensor, the vehicle trackingsystem comprising: a vehicle tracking unit comprising a vehicle positiondetermining device, a wireless communications device, and a controllerconnected to said wireless communications device and said vehicleposition determining device; said controller cooperating with saidvehicle position determining device and said wireless communicationsdevice to send an alert message based upon the at least one vehiclesensor, said controller also being switchable to an override mode toprevent sending of the alert message based upon receiving an alertoverride message; and a monitoring station for receiving the alertmessage and for sending the alert override message.
 2. The vehicletracking system according to claim 1 wherein said controller isswitchable between armed and disarmed modes based upon the at least onevehicle sensor; and wherein the alert message is sent when saidcontroller is in the armed mode.
 3. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 1 wherein said controller is switchable between armedand disarmed modes based upon the at least one vehicle sensor; andwherein the alert message is sent when said controller is in thedisarmed mode.
 4. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1wherein said controller sends the alert message based upon the vehiclechanging location.
 5. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1wherein said vehicle tracking unit further comprises a housing, andwherein said vehicle position determining device, said wirelesscommunications device, and said controller are carried by said housing.6. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1 wherein the at leastone vehicle sensor comprises a vehicle ignition switch.
 7. The vehicletracking system according to claim 6 wherein said controller disengagesthe override mode based upon the vehicle ignition switch being switchedbetween on and off positions.
 8. The vehicle tracking system accordingto claim 1 wherein the at least one vehicle sensor comprises an operablevehicle device.
 9. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 8wherein said operable vehicle device is controllable by a transmitter tobe carried by a user.
 10. The vehicle tracking system according to claim9 wherein said controller disengages the override mode based upon theoperable vehicle device being controlled by the transmitter.
 11. Thevehicle tracking system according to claim 8 wherein said operablevehicle device comprises at least one of a vehicle alarm device, akeyless entry device, an engine starter interrupt device, and a remotestarter device.
 12. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1wherein said monitoring station is also for sending an overridedisengage message; and wherein said controller cooperates with saidwireless communications device to receive the override disengage messageand disengage the override mode based thereon.
 13. The vehicle trackingsystem according to claim 1 wherein said controller also cooperates withsaid vehicle position determining device and said wirelesscommunications device to send vehicle position information to saidmonitoring station.
 14. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1wherein said vehicle position determining device comprises a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) device.
 15. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 1 wherein said wireless communications devicecomprises a cellular telephone communications device.
 16. The vehicletracking system according to claim 15 wherein said cellular telephonecommunications device communicates over a cellular control channel. 17.The vehicle tracking system according to claim 1 wherein said monitoringstation comprises a user interface for accepting at least one commandfrom a user and sending at least one alert to the user.
 18. The vehicletracking system according to claim 17 wherein said user interfacecomprises an Internet interface.
 19. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 17 wherein said user interface comprises a telephonenetwork interface.
 20. A vehicle tracking system for a vehicle of a typecomprising at least one vehicle sensor, the vehicle tracking systemcomprising: a vehicle tracking unit comprising a vehicle positiondetermining device, a wireless communications device, and a controllerfor cooperating with said vehicle position determining device and saidwireless communications device to send vehicle position messages; saidcontroller cooperating with said vehicle position determining device andsaid wireless communications device to send an alert message based uponthe vehicle changing location and the at least one vehicle sensor, saidcontroller also being switchable to an override mode to prevent sendingof the alert message based upon receiving an alert override message; anda monitoring station for receiving the vehicle position messages and thealert message, and for sending the alert override message.
 21. Thevehicle tracking system according to claim 20 wherein said controller isswitchable between armed and disarmed modes based upon the at least onevehicle sensor; and wherein the alert message is sent when saidcontroller is in the armed mode.
 22. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 20 wherein said controller is switchable betweenarmed and disarmed modes based upon the at least one vehicle sensor; andwherein the alert message is sent when said controller is in thedisarmed mode.
 23. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 20wherein said vehicle tracking unit further comprises a housing, andwherein said vehicle position determining device, said wirelesscommunications device, and said controller are carried by said housing.24. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 20 wherein the atleast one vehicle sensor comprises a vehicle ignition switch.
 25. Thevehicle tracking system according to claim 24 wherein said controllerdisengages the override mode based upon the vehicle ignition switchbeing switched between on and off positions.
 26. The vehicle trackingsystem according to claim 20 wherein the at least one vehicle sensorcomprises an operable vehicle device.
 27. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 26 wherein said operable vehicle device iscontrollable by a transmitter to be carried by a user.
 28. The vehicletracking system according to claim 27 wherein said controller disengagesthe override mode based upon the operable vehicle device beingcontrolled by the transmitter.
 29. The vehicle tracking system accordingto claim 26 wherein said operable vehicle device comprises at least oneof a vehicle alarm device, a keyless entry device, an engine starterinterrupt device, and a remote starter device.
 30. The vehicle trackingsystem according to claim 19 wherein said monitoring station is also forsending an override disengage message; and wherein said controllercooperates with said wireless communications device to receive theoverride disengage message and disengage the override mode basedthereon.
 31. The vehicle tracking system according to claim 20 whereinsaid vehicle position determining device comprises a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) device.
 32. The vehicle tracking system according to claim20 wherein said wireless communications device comprises a cellulartelephone communications device.
 33. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 32 wherein said cellular telephone communicationsdevice communicates over a cellular control channel.
 34. The vehicletracking system according to claim 20 wherein said monitoring stationcomprises a user interface for accepting at least one command from auser and sending at least one alert to the user.
 35. The vehicletracking system according to claim 34 wherein said user interfacecomprises an Internet interface.
 36. The vehicle tracking systemaccording to claim 34 wherein said user interface comprises a telephonenetwork interface.
 37. A vehicle tracking method for a vehicle of a typecomprising at least one vehicle sensor and a vehicle tracking unit, themethod comprising: selectively sending an alert override message fromthe monitoring station to the vehicle tracking unit; switching thevehicle tracking unit to an override mode based upon receiving the alertoverride message from the monitoring station; and sending an alertmessage from the vehicle tracking unit to the monitoring station basedupon the at least one vehicle sensor if the vehicle tracking unit is notin the override mode, and preventing sending of the alert message if thevehicle is in the override mode.
 38. The method according to claim 37wherein the vehicle tracking unit is switchable between armed anddisarmed modes based upon the at least one vehicle sensor; and whereinsending the alert message further comprises sending the alert messagewhen the vehicle tracking unit is in the armed mode.
 39. The methodaccording to claim 37 wherein the vehicle tracking unit is switchablebetween armed and disarmed modes based upon the at least one vehiclesensor; and wherein sending the alert message further comprises sendingthe alert message when the vehicle tracking unit is in the disarmedmode.
 40. The method according to claim 37 wherein sending the alertmessage further comprises sending the alert message also based upon thevehicle changing location.
 41. The method according to claim 37 whereinthe at least one vehicle sensor comprises a vehicle ignition switch. 42.The method according to claim 41 further comprising disengaging theoverride mode based upon the vehicle ignition switch being switchedbetween on and off positions.
 43. The method according to claim 37wherein the at least one vehicle sensor comprises an operable vehicledevice.
 44. The method according to claim 43 wherein the operablevehicle device is controllable by a transmitter to be carried by a user.45. The method according to claim 44 further comprising disengaging theoverride mode based upon the operable vehicle device being controlled bythe transmitter.
 46. The method according to claim 43 wherein theoperable vehicle device comprises at least one of a vehicle alarmdevice, a keyless entry device, an engine starter interrupt device, anda remote starter device.
 47. The method according to claim 37 furthercomprising sending vehicle position information from the vehicletracking unit to the monitoring station.
 48. The method according toclaim 42 further comprising sending an override disengage message fromthe monitoring station to the vehicle tracking unit, and disengaging theoverride mode based upon the override disengage message.